Left Alone
by transmutejun
Summary: The famous Christmas movie... in the Gatchaman universe!
1. Introduction

_This fic is dedicated to Gatchamarie, who wanted a story about Ken as a child at Christmastime._

Introduction

Dr. Nambu stepped out of the private plane and onto the runway at the small South American airstrip. Subdirector Anderson held out his hand to greet the scientist, his suit jacket flapping in the temporary breeze created by the aircraft's arrival.

"It's good to see you, Dr. Nambu." Anderson greeted his protégé.

"And you as well, Subdirector." Nambu replied, shifting his arm to adjust for the weight of the bag on his shoulder.

"Is that… are those… the files?" Anderson asked nervously.

"Yes." the Doctor replied. "All of my files on the regenerative metal project. I am eager to present them to the ISO Board."

"They are very eager to hear more details on your work." Anderson responded. "Are those the only copies? We need to ensure that they don't fall into the wrong hands."

"I have one other copy of the primary files, for backup purposes." Dr. Nambu replied. "The data is securely stored, I assure you." His mind thought back to that morning, when he had hurriedly packed for this unexpected trip that had been scheduled only minutes before. He had been thrusting his files and his laptop into his bag when he had suddenly thought to make a backup. After all, if there were a mishap with the plane, if something happened to his luggage, he would be glad for a way to retrieve his files. Hurriedly, he had copied the primary research information onto a data key, then locked it in his safe in his office. Had he re-covered the safe with the wall panel? He frowned as he thought back. Yes, he had. He had been in an incredible hurry to depart, yet he recalled doing that.

There had been so many things to take care of for this spur-of-the-moment trip. Subdirector Anderson had decided last night to hold this briefing over Christmas, to better cover their tracks. No one would comment if the ISO Board Members were away from their offices during the Christmas week. And so it was that Dr. Nambu found himself in an isolated region of Brazil, ready to present the results of his painstaking research to the very men who could offer him sufficient funding to realize its full potential. It was very heady stuff for a man who had only finished graduate school less than a decade before.

Still, he had left home so quickly this morning. He couldn't have forgotten anything, could he? Surreptitiously he patted his jacket. His wallet and passport were there. Any mundane item he had forgotten to pack could be purchased locally. There was nothing important he had left behind.


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Ken groaned as the sunlight hit his face, pulling him from his comfortable sleep. He rubbed his eyes, blinking at the clock on his nightstand. Dr. Nambu had purchased the device for him as a reminder to get out of bed early enough to make it on time to his lessons. Yet Ken hated the angry beep of the alarm, preferring instead to let the sun waken him. No matter that the sun's alarm came at different times of day throughout the year.

Still… it was late December. The sun didn't rise until about 7 am. And for it to have woken him at full strength… Ken blinked blearily at the clock. It was well after 8 am.

"Wow." he noted, pulling the clock over to confirm that he was indeed looking at the correct time. But there it blinked at him: 8:23.

He was late for his tutor. Master Gorbhor must be livid! Ken tumbled out of bed, pulling on the closest t-shirt and jeans he could find (there were many to choose from, seeing as practically his entire wardrobe was strewn across the floor) and running to the door, socks and sneakers in hand. He jumped over the banister, flying down the two flights of stairs until he reached the bottom level of Dr. Nambu's villa. Stuffing his feet into his socks he hopped down the hallway, then began pulling on his shoes until he had reached the door to the schoolroom. He burst through, his chest heaving with his exertions.

"Master Gorbhor, I apologize…"

The schoolroom was empty. No tutor sat at the large desk, no papers were laid out on the large table, no books sat ready for studious perusal. Ken blinked, his mind slowly coming into focus. He looked over at the digital time readout on the wall.

December 21, 8:25 am.

December 21… wait a minute! It was Christmas! He was on holiday! No wonder the tutor was not present! Ken had over a week off from his studies! Rather than being angry with himself for forgetting, the nine year old whooped with joy, eager to take advantage of this rare time off.

Grinning to himself, Ken wandered over to the kitchen, catching a glimpse of his messy hair as he passed by a hallway mirror. Mrs. Henderson wouldn't like that! Quickly, he ran his fingers through the auburn locks, pulling them into a vague semblance of neatness before walking into the kitchen.

Mrs. Henderson wasn't there either.

Strange… usually Mrs. Henderson had his breakfast waiting for him. But he had been late downstairs. Perhaps she had left it in the warming oven? Yet the oven was cold and there was nothing inside. Shrugging, Ken pulled a bowl from a shelf and a spoon from the drawer. Looking around with the artless deviousness of a child up to no good, he reached into the closet, digging around behind the boxes of bran and muesli. Ah, there it was! Mrs. Henderson's secret stash of Cocoa Crunch cereal! Happily Ken poured himself a heaping bowl, then shoved the illicit treat back into its hiding place. He grabbed a container of milk from the fridge, pouring it into his already full dish, uncaring of the chocolate-smeared drips that sloshed over the side of the bowl.

He closed his eyes as he munched on his breakfast. It was a perfect way to begin a holiday. When he was finished he returned the milk to the fridge and dropped the bowl and spoon into the sink, not bothering to wipe up the table. Mrs. Henderson would do that when she returned. After all, wasn't that her job as Dr. Nambu's housekeeper?

Leaving the kitchen, Ken passed by Dr. Nambu's office. The door was partially open, and Ken popped his head inside to say hello. But the Doctor was not there.

Ken stared, amazed. The usually neat office was in disarray, various papers and folders strewn across the desk. The shade on the lamp on the desk by the door was askew, as if someone had bumped into it upon exiting the room. Reflexively, Ken straightened the shade, knowing instinctively that Dr. Nambu would disapprove of such untidiness.

So why had he left his office in such a mess? Curious, Ken tiptoed over to the desk, peering at the slew of papers spread across the large oaken surface. Most of it was empty folders, and the few papers that remained looked like nothing Ken could decipher: strange diagrams and chemical formulas spreading across their pages. But in the middle of the chaos was Nambu's notepad, covered in the Doctor's recognizable scrawl.

Conference Presentation

Dec. 21 - 28

Utoland Municipal Airport

Hangar 24A

4:30 am

Huh. It looked like Dr. Nambu had run off to some boring conference again. He hadn't even said goodbye. Not that this was unusual; the Doctor was always running off to some ISO thing or another. But he'd never missed Christmas before, not since Ken had come to live with him when he was four years old.

Knowing Dr. Nambu, he'd likely forgotten all about the holiday. Ken supposed he was brilliant with all of that science stuff, but when it came to everyday things like remembering to put on a tie or seeing the dentist, he was hopeless. That was why he had people like Mrs. Henderson in his employ in the first place. She, along with a staff of three others, took care of all of the mundane issues of the household, so that Dr. Nambu could focus on his important scientific research.

Ken frowned slightly. He didn't like to admit it, but he missed the Doctor when he was gone. Ken barely remembered his own father, and his mother was stuck in a hospital, most of the time in an isolation ward where Ken was unable to visit. Dr. Nambu was the only real parent he had, and certainly the only stability in his life.

Then again, with no lessons to attend to and no Dr. Nambu to tell him otherwise, Ken was free to play. He went back up to his room, opening up the curtains to their fullest and pulling down boxes of model airplane kits. Within minutes he had forgotten all about the missing Dr. Nambu and was completely engrossed in his task.

A few hours later he looked up, aware that his stomach was rumbling. His morning breakfast of sugared cereal hadn't filled him for long, and a quick glance at the clock told Ken it was lunchtime. Besides, he was nearly out of InstaGlue. He used so much of the stuff that Dr. Nambu joked that he would buy a crate of the glue bottles, just to keep Ken in business. But the truth was that Dr. Nambu liked Ken's airplane models, encouraging him to build them and always getting him the latest kits. Ken gently lifted his most recently assembled model, preparing to take it down to show the Doctor, before he remembered that his foster father was gone.

Shrugging, Ken headed downstairs to the kitchen, wondering what Mrs. Henderson had put together for lunch. Yet when he arrived at the kitchen, it was as empty as that morning. Ken's dirty bowl and spoon still lay in the sink, and his spilled milk had dried into unappealing brown blobs on the table. Nothing was in the warming oven.

"Mrs. Henderson?" Ken called. "Hello?"

The sound echoed around the house in a way that made Ken feel slightly uncomfortable. Something wasn't right, yet he couldn't put his finger on it. He wandered the ground floor, trying to figure out what it was. It wasn't until he had circled the area and come back to the main stairs that he realized what it was.

He hadn't seen anybody else.

Besides his tutor and Mrs. Henderson, Ken usually caught a glimpse of Mr. Epps, the handyman and gardener, or Nora and Beth, the villa's two maids. Yet there was no one.

That couldn't be right. There had to be _someone_! Maybe he should call Dr. Nambu… But he recalled that recently the Doctor had changed his cell phone and number, claiming that his calls were being monitored. Ken had never received the new number. There was no way for him to contact the Doctor.

In a panic, Ken raced up the stairs to the third floor and began banging on the door next to his room.

"Please be there, please be there, please be there…" he muttered anxiously to himself. To Ken's intense relief, he heard an annoyed groan coming from behind the door.

"Leave me alone! Can't a guy get some sleep?"

"Joe!" Heedless of proprieties, Ken tore open the door and burst into Joe's room. A tousled head of dark blonde hair was all that was visible from the sheets.

"What's the emergency?" Joe muttered angrily, pulling back the covers to survey Ken. "And what are you doing in my room? Hakase told you to knock! I'm telling!"

"You can't tell!" Ken told him. "Hakase's not here!"

"Then I'll tell Mrs. Henderson. Now let me get back to sleep." Joe rolled over, pulling the covers above his head once more.

"It's afternoon, Joe! Are you really still sleeping?" Ken's curiosity won out momentarily over his panic.

"What's it to you?" Joe grumbled, before glancing at his own clock. "Wow! It really _is_ after noon! How come nobody came to get me up?"

"Because there's nobody here." Ken told him.

"You're here." Joe pointed out.

"No one but us. I looked. Hakase's gone, for a whole week! Mrs. Henderson isn't here. Mr. Epps, Nora, Beth… no one!"

"It's Christmas, idiot!" Joe sneered. "Hakase gave everyone two weeks off, so they could be with their families. Remember?"

"Oh." Ken had forgotten. But this didn't erase the most important fact.

"But then why would Hakase take off?" Ken asked, his lower lip trembling. "Why would he leave us alone? Doesn't he want to be with us anymore?"

"I'll bet he forgot." Joe said, sitting up amongst his tangled sheets. "Smart guy like Hakase… He has too many things to think about to remember stuff like us."

"He forgot us?" Ken's heart sank. He could tell that Joe wasn't nearly as bothered by this as he was, but then, Joe didn't know Dr. Nambu very well. He had only come to live at Nambu's villa a month ago, and for the first two weeks he had been confined to his room, recovering from some kind of injuries. Ken hadn't been allowed to ask what kind of injuries they were, or how Joe had gotten them. But it had been made clear that Joe would be staying with them, and that Dr. Nambu expected the two boys to get along. Ken tried. It was exciting to have another boy his age around. Yet Joe often appeared sullen, and only snapped at Ken or looked down upon him.

Still, right now Joe's company was better than nothing.

"Are you _sure_ there's no one here?" Joe asked, as if he suddenly doubted his own words. "And you're _sure_ Hakase is gone for a week? How do you know?"

"I'll show you." Ken smirked. At least he had something on Joe. He led the other boy downstairs to Dr. Nambu's office, showing him the note he had found.

"Yep, looks like he's gone, all right." Joe concurred with Ken's assessment. "Now you're sure there's no one else in the house?"

"Take a look for yourself." Ken invited him. Together the two boys went through the villa, checking every room. They even went into the garage and peered out of the windows at the extensive grounds. There was no one in sight.

"I guess Hakase really did forget about us." Joe said, dropping down onto the top stair after they had finished their search. "Huh."

"He goes to these conferences a lot." Ken offered. "Usually Mrs. Henderson's here to watch me. I guess what he forgot is that he gave everyone time off…" his spirits fell as he remembered the worst part of all.

"Hakase will be gone for Christmas." he muttered glumly.

"So what?" Joe shrugged. "We've already got the best Christmas present."

"What?" Ken asked suspiciously. Had Joe gotten a present when he hadn't?

"We're _alone_." Joe grinned. "No one to tell us what to do. No rules."

"No rules?" Ken began to sweat, his heart pounding madly in his chest. "But…"

"No buts. We can do what we want!" Joe jumped up. "And right now I'm hungry. Let's get some food."

"Okay." Ken replied, still not entirely convinced. Rules were there for a reason. If you followed them, you stayed safe. That's why grownups made rules, after all. But if there were no rules…

"What if we get hurt?" he asked.

"We won't get hurt."

"How do you know?"

"You're right. I won't get hurt. I can't promise anything for you." Joe punched Ken in the arm, sending the boy stumbling sideways.

"Hey, that hurt!" Ken complained.

"See? I told you I couldn't promise anything."

Ken saw red. He lashed out with his foot, delivering a side kick to Joe's gut, the way his sensei had taught him in his martial arts lessons. Joe fell backward, landing on his rear.

"You want to fight?" he asked, his eyes flashing dangerously. He got up slowly from the floor.

"No." Ken said, crossing his arms. "We're even."

"Okay." Joe shrugged, his eyes assessing Ken. "You're not as wussy as I thought."

"Wussy?" Ken glared at Joe.

"What do you expect, following the rules all the time?" Joe asked.

"Rules are there for a reason! Grownups make them!" Ken protested.

"And you think the grownups care about us?" Joe snorted derisively.

"Dr. Nambu cares about us."

"So that's why he left us alone?"

Ken didn't have an answer for that.

"How many friends have you got?" Joe asked.

"Huh?"

"Friends. Got any?"

"Uh…" Ken hesitated. The truth was that he didn't know many other kids, and rarely got to see other boys. There certainly wasn't anyone he would call a friend.

"You know why?" Joe asked smugly, before answering his own question. "It's because you trust the grownups. Grownups don't care about you. You just get in their way."

"My Mom cares about me!" Ken insisted.

"Yeah." Joe thought a moment. "Parents don't count. Parents have to care. But it doesn't matter when you don't have any."

"You don't have parents?" Ken asked, surprised.

"Nope." Joe shook his head. "They were killed."

"How were they killed?"

"Why are you so nosy?" Joe demanded.

"Uh…" Ken had no idea how to respond to the other boy's mercurial moods, but then inspiration struck.

"My Daddy was killed too." he offered, surprised when the recollection of his father did not hold the pain it usually did. "Bad men shot down his plane. Hakase calls them Galactor."

"But your Mom's alive."

"She's in the hospital." Ken revealed, turning away. "She's really sick. Most of the time, I can't even see her. That's why I live with Hakase."

"Me too." Joe said suddenly. Ken looked back in surprise.

"You… what?"

"My Dad was killed by Galactor. My Mom too." Joe said. "Galactor sucks. I always stayed away from them, because they like to shoot people. But my parents… they didn't stay away."

"Oh." Ken had no idea what to say. Joe's revelation was heartfelt, yet his tone and demeanor suggested that he was just itching to pick a fight with Ken.

"Let's get some lunch." Ken suggested, eager to change the subject. Joe readily agreed, and a moment later they were in the kitchen.

"Can you cook?" Joe asked Ken as he stared at the deep oaken cabinets lining the walls.

"No!" Ken felt somehow insulted. What was he, a girl?

"Can you cook?" he shot back.

"Nope." Joe shrugged. "But that makes it difficult to eat."

"There's lots of stuff we don't have to cook." Ken replied. "Like this." He went to the cupboard and pulled out a single-serving bowl of macaroni and cheese.

"That looks like you have to cook it." Joe noted, his eyes narrowing in suspicion.

"Nope. It's easy. Mrs. Henderson showed me." Ken bragged. "You fill it with water and put it in the microwave." He demonstrated, pulling off the plastic cover and following the instructions, then doing it again for a second bowl. It felt good knowing something that Joe, for all his swagger, did not.

"Now we nuke it for three minutes and it's done." Ken said smugly.

"I don't know… that looks like you were _cooking_ to me." Joe needled. Ken saw the glint in the other boy's eye, and instantly understood that in his own way, Joe was still looking for a fight. Somehow, Ken knew that unless he earned Joe's respect, this kind of taunting would never end.

"Fine." Ken smiled, realizing the best way to get back at Joe. "If that's what you think, you don't have to eat it."

"You're not going to eat two bowls!" Joe protested.

"I'm pretty hungry." Ken countered.

"You won't share?" Joe's face was the very epitome of surprise. It was clear that he had taken Ken for a pushover.

"I only share with my friends."

"You don't have any friends."

"Bingo."

Joe's face scrunched up into itself as he thought through the problem.

"I could be your friend." he suggested half-heartedly.

"I don't know." Ken replied. "You're kind of mean."

"I'm not mean! You're just a wuss!"

"Yeah, you're mean all right."

"Can't you take a joke?"

"I don't like your jokes." Ken glared at Joe, and something in his demeanor caused Joe's defiant expression to vanish. For an instant, Joe appeared as vulnerable as Ken usually felt.

"Okay." Joe stared at the floor. "No more jokes. Can I have some food now?"

"Yeah." Ken smiled. "I made it for you, anyway."

"Okay."

Right on cue, the microwave beeped and Ken took out the two steaming bowls. He grabbed spoons from the drawer and tossed one to Joe, who caught it expertly in midair. Ken stirred his macaroni and cheese until it had cooled down, then took a bite as Joe mimicked his actions.

"Is this… pasta?" Joe asked suspiciously as he chewed.

"Uh… kind of." Ken shrugged. "I never thought about it."

"This is nothing like my Mom makes… made."

"It's all we've got." Ken reminded him. "Do _you_ want to cook?"

"No way!" Joe appeared horrified.

"Then eat it or hand it over."

Joe curled his arm around his bowl possessively and continued eating. Apparently he was just as hungry as Ken was.

"It's kind of boring." Joe commented a moment later. "I like spicy stuff."

"You want spicy?" Ken smirked. "I'll give you spicy!" He went over to one of the kitchen cabinets, pulling it open to reveal flour, sugar, baking powder, and a long row of spice jars.

"Try this." Ken suggested, reaching behind the jars to pull out a small plastic container with a brownish-red dust inside. "Mrs. Henderson likes spicy too, and she uses this."

"Okay." Joe shrugged, opening the container and sprinkling some onto his spoonful of pasta. He shoveled the heaping pile of food into his mouth.

"Hey, this isn't bad… holy crap!" Joe ran for the sink, turning on the tap and ducking his head below the faucet to catch the cool stream of water that emerged. He drank greedily, the excess dripping down his face and into the sink. Ken laughed at the sight until his sides hurt and his throat was raw. Joe continued to drink, uncaring of the amusement he was providing to Ken.

"What the hell was that?" Joe asked finally, his eyes red and streaming as he finally turned off the sink.

"South American pepper mix." Ken grinned. "It's really powerful."

"Now you tell me!"

"You said you liked spicy." Ken blinked innocently.

"Don't play me! You tricked me on purpose!"

"Maybe…" Ken grinned. "It _was_ pretty funny."

"You're sneakier than you look." Joe noted. It almost sounded like a compliment.

"It's really hot stuff." Ken explained. "Mrs. Henderson only uses a tiny bit at a time. It makes her eyes water and her skin itch too."

"So why does she eat the stuff?" Joe swiped at his eyes with his sleeve.

"I guess she likes it." Ken shrugged. "Hakase can't stand it, so she keeps it separate form the other spices."

Joe nodded and returned to his (fortunately unseasoned) pasta. Ken noted that the other boy did not make any further comments about the bland nature of the dish. They ate in silence for a few minutes.

"So what else have we got?" Joe asked as he finished off the last of his meal and licked the spoon clean.

"I don't know." Ken shrugged. "Let's look." He tossed his empty container into the trash and his spoon into the sink, somehow pleased to see Joe copying his actions. The boys approached the fridge and Ken pulled it open.

"Um… meat… eggs… I guess those have to be cooked." Ken inventoried. "Apples, carrots, oranges, green pepper, beans… milk, cheese, ham… oh yes!"

"What?" Joe asked, digging through the fruit drawer.

"Jello packs! Thank you, Mrs. Henderson!" Ken grabbed one of the plastic cups, ripping off the plastic cover and reaching for the spoon he had so recently deposited in the sink. Within seconds he was halfway through the wobbly treat.

"Jello?" Joe asked. "What's that?"

"I don't know. It's just… Jello." Ken didn't know what to think of a kid who had never heard of Jello. "Where are you from, anyway?"

"BC Island." Joe shrugged. "Near Italy."

"They don't have Jello there?"

"Guess not, Einstein."

"Well you don't have to have any then."

"I didn't say that. It just looks… weird."

"Yeah, I guess it does." Ken agreed, nonchalantly tossing the cup into the garbage and reaching for a second. "But I like it."

"Okay." Joe decided suddenly, grabbing for his own cup and tearing off the lid. He retrieved his spoon and took a bite. His face appeared confused for a moment, then he frowned.

"This is gross!" he shouted, spitting out his mouthful into the sink. He then threw his cup toward the garbage can, but hit the rim. The mostly-full cup bounced and landed on the floor, its contents spilling out onto the hard tile.

"Hey, you're wasting it!" Ken complained, setting down his cup and grabbing for a dishcloth. "And you made a mess! Do you know how slippery this stuff gets?"

"How do you know?" Joe smirked, watching Ken clean the floor. "Did you trip on it?"

"No, Hakase did." Ken retorted, pleased to see that his answer had gotten a reaction from Joe. It would appear that he respected Dr. Nambu, at least. "I'm not allowed to eat it if I make a mess." He glared sternly at Joe, unconsciously imitating Dr. Nambu when he was in a lecturing mood.

"Okay." Joe outwardly shrugged the reprimand off, yet somehow seemed to take the warning to heart. "I won't do it again. As long as you find me something better to eat."

"Let's check the pantry." Ken suggested, drying off his hands and throwing the dishtowel in the sink, along with his spoon. He led Joe out of the kitchen and down a small flight of stairs to the pantry. The door was constructed of heavy steel, yet it opened easily when Ken input his security code into the keypad next to it.

"What's the code?" Joe asked curiously.

"The same one as for the front door." Ken shrugged. "Hakase gave me a code after I got locked out last spring, playing in the forest." He regarded Joe with an appraising glance.

"Don't you have a code?" Ken asked.

"No." Joe appeared mildly annoyed by this. "I didn't even know this was here."

"Well, you haven't been here long." Ken reasoned. "And you spent a couple of weeks in bed. I'll bet Hakase will give you a code later."

"He'd better!" Joe's words were threatening, yet his tone was wistful.

The two boys turned their attention to the food present. The shelves in the pantry appeared to hold more things to Joe's liking than the fridge. The boy eagerly grabbed a box of Oreo cookies and began stuffing them in his mouth. Ken simply stood there, amazed at how much food the small room actually held.

"There's enough food here to last a month!" he gasped, his jaw dropping. "Maybe two months! Why does Hakase need so much?"

"Maybe he hates to shop, so he gets a lot at once?" Joe asked through a mouthful of chocolate cookie crumbs.

"Hakase doesn't do the shopping; Mrs. Henderson does." Ken replied.

"Seems strange that there's a keypad on the door." Joe observed, in between bites. "Is this food special?"

"I don't know." Ken replied. "I've only been in here once or twice, and I never thought about it before." Curiously he examined the room, realizing that there was another door hidden off to the side. He walked over and opened it, staring in surprise at what lay beyond.

"There's a bathroom in here." Ken reported. "And beds."

"This would make a cool hideout." Joe pointed out, excitement gleaming in his eyes. "Better than what I had with Alan. We wouldn't have to come out for days, if we didn't want to!"

"Who's Alan?" Ken asked, but Joe was ignoring him, pushing in to get a better look at the 'hideout'.

"Four beds." Joe noted. "I call one of the top bunks!"

"We're not sleeping here!" Ken told him.

"Why not?" Joe grinned. "Did Hakase say we couldn't?"

"No, but…"

"Then it's not against the rules, is it?" Joe concluded.

"I'm sure Hakase wouldn't like it…"

"How do you know? You didn't ask." Joe smirked. "This is like one of those old war bunkers! My Dad took me to see one when I was little. They dug them underground and lived there, waiting to attack anyone who showed up."

"War bunkers… from the big war?" Ken asked. "My Dad fought in that war, and so did Hakase. That's where they became friends."

"Hakase was a soldier?" Joe appeared surprised. "I didn't know that."

"Yep." Ken confirmed, pleased to have knowledge that Joe did not. "Maybe that's why he built this place. Maybe he misses the bunkers…"

"I never thought Hakase would have a cool place like this!" Joe agreed. "Better than my room, that's for sure. Let's stay here until Hakase gets back!"

"I…" On some level, Ken felt that it was a bad idea; that Dr. Nambu would disapprove. On the other hand, Dr. Nambu was the one who had left them alone, without any grownups. And it wasn't like Ken had ever been told not to go in here.

"Okay." he agreed, allowing himself to feel excited at last. "I'll take the other top bunk." Joe grinned at him, and Ken grinned back. Within seconds they were scrambling up to their beds, playing around and pretending that they were soldiers.

A few hours later their play began to peter out, as the repetitiveness of their games began to take the edge off their excitement.

"So what else do you do around here?" Joe asked. "What's fun?"

"I make model airplanes." Ken offered. "Want to see?"

"Okay." Joe shrugged. He followed Ken out of the secret bunker and through the pantry, frowning when Ken closed the door behind him.

"Hey, I can't open that!" Joe complained.

"Then you'll just have to take me with you when you come back." Ken smirked.

The boys went upstairs to Ken's room, where Ken proudly displayed his model planes, including the two that he had built that morning.

"Pretty nice." Joe admitted. "Do you glue them together or do they snap in?"

"InstaGlue." Ken replied. "I'm almost out. But I think I saw some bottles in the pantry."

"What's that?" Joe asked, moving over to a bin on one of Ken's shelves. "It looks like…"

"Games." Ken confirmed. "For the Playstation. Hakase lets me use it on weekends."

"Video games!" Joe crowed, looking through them. "War Gears, Soldier Story, Space Marines, Ninja Fighter, Street Brawl, Superhero Slam… wow! You've got all the good ones!"

"You've played them before?" Ken deduced.

"Yeah… well, once." Joe admitted ruefully. "At a friend's house."

"You didn't have any video games?" Ken asked.

"I had some." Joe revealed. "But the only ones my Mom got were Mario and Pokemon and Little Planet." The boy stuck his finger in his mouth and mimed gagging.

"Little Planet?" Ken hadn't heard of that one.

"Trust me, you don't want to know."

"Red Baron is my favorite." Ken offered. "I like flying the planes. It's like I'm…"

"Like what?"

"Like I'm with my Dad." Ken looked at the floor. "He was a pilot."

"Oh."

"What did your Dad do?"

"I don't know."

"You don't know?" To Ken, this sounded rather odd. "Didn't he work?"

"Of course he worked!" Joe sounded insulted. "But he never talked about it. I don't know what he did."

"Whatever you say."

"You don't believe me, but it's true!" Joe snarled. "My Dad was the best! He didn't let my Mom turn me into a sissy! He took me to see the war bunkers, and taught me to shoot, and played with me…"

"Sounds like he loved you." Ken said, a finger of jealousy creeping through his mind. "I don't remember my Dad much. I was really little when he died."

"Well my Dad was great." Joe asserted. "So what if he never told me what he did?"

"Yeah, it doesn't matter." Ken agreed. But inside he thought it was strange. Why wouldn't Joe's Dad say what he did for a living? Everyone talked about their jobs, didn't they? Except…

"Maybe he was a spy!" Ken offered. "That's why he knew about bunkers and guns and stuff. And if he was a spy, he couldn't talk about his job, right?"

"A spy…" Joe thought about it for a moment, then nodded, a big grin on his face. "Yeah! That's it! He was probably a spy. I'll bet he saved tons of people with his spy missions. Hey, do you think he had a cool car like James Bond?"

"I'll bet he did." Once again, Ken was amazed at Joe's mercurial moods. He went from happy to sad to angry in the blink of an eye. This was the exact opposite of Dr. Nambu, who was almost always patient and stern, yet kind.

"Let's play!" Joe decided, picking up the box of games and looking around. "Where's the Playstation?"

"Downstairs, in the family room." Ken replied.

A few minutes later both boys were ensconced on the sofa in front of the large family room television, each of them holding a controller as they allied together against the system to play Space Marines. As the rest of the day and evening wore on they moved from game to game, pausing only to raid the kitchen cupboards for bags of potato chips and boxes of crackers. When Joe discovered bags of microwave popcorn on a shelf, he immediately declared that pushing buttons was 'not cooking'.

Now, with the clock pushing midnight, the two boys played with heavy-lidded eyes, bags of snacks strewn about the room and the pungent smell of stale popcorn floating in the air. Ken was the first to succumb to exhaustion, with Joe not far behind. Together they slept, the television casting a flickering light over the two boys until the morning, neither of them even barely aware of the storm that passed over during the dark hours of the night.


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The curtains at the windows were drawn, and as such the morning sun failed to wake the two exhausted boys. It wasn't until well after the clock struck ten that they awoke from their awkward positions on the rumpled couch.

"Wow…" Ken muttered, taking in the evidence of their carousing the previous evening. "What a mess!"

"So what?" Joe shrugged, shaking off the last of his sleep.

"Hakase will be mad." Ken pointed out. "He won't let me… let _us_ use the Playstation again." He grimaced as he put his feet back down onto the floor, only to hear the crunch of a stale potato chip grinding itself into the carpet.

"It's his fault." Joe did not appear disturbed by Ken's comment in the least. "He's the one who left us alone, with no supervision."

"He'll be disappointed in me." Ken felt disappointed in himself, but there was still time to put things right. He began picking up the trash, taking a big armful and bringing it to the kitchen garbage. To his surprise, Joe began to follow suit, although somewhat more slowly. There wasn't much they could do about the crumbs in the carpet, seeing as Ken wasn't allowed to use the vacuum cleaner, but the room showed a marked improvement once they had cleaned up the worst of the mess.

"Now, how about some breakfast?" Joe asked.

"Okay. I'll show you where Mrs. Henderson hides the cereal." Ken felt generous, thanks to Joe's unexpected assistance with cleanup. He pulled out the illicit box of Cocoa Crunch, along with two bowls and spoons, before going to the fridge for milk. Before long, both boys were enjoying the sugary treat.

"This is good… but I want some real food." Joe declared as he set down his spoon inside his empty bowl.

"What real food?" Ken asked. "We can't cook!"

"We can buy some."

"Where? There's nothing around here!" Ken pointed out. "And we have no money!"

"You don't have any money?" Joe asked suspiciously. "None?"

"No." Ken insisted.

"You don't get money for birthdays, or the Tooth Fairy?"

"Well yeah, but Hakase won't let me spend it." Ken replied. "He says I'll need money when I'm older."

"When you're older, you'll have a job. You won't need money." Joe argued. "You'll be rich."

"Are you sure?"

"Of course I'm sure!" Joe sounded indignant that Ken wouldn't believe him. "And I'm hungry! Don't you want some _real_ food? Maybe some French fries?"

French fries did sound good. And he wouldn't need too much money for some French fries.

"Okay." Ken reluctantly agreed. "But where are we going? There aren't any restaurants around here."

"We'll drive."

"Drive?" Ken nearly choked on the last of his Cocoa Crunch. "Don't you mean _bike_? But we couldn't bike eight kilometers into Utoland!"

"_Drive_." Joe repeated smugly. "Hakase has all those cars, right? I'll bet he left at least one of them behind."

"We can't drive!" Ken was aghast at the idea.

"I can drive." Joe bragged. "My Dad taught me."

"Your Dad taught you to drive?" Ken was instantly suspicious. "You're lying! Nine year olds don't drive!"

"It's different on BC Island."

"This isn't BC Island!"

"I just want to go get some burgers and fries. I'm not driving to New Jork."

"We can't!"

"And here I thought you were okay! You're just as wussy as I thought!"

"I don't care! I'm not going. And you can't have my money either!"

"Fine, I'll find money somewhere. Hakase has to have some around the house. And I'll go by myself!" Joe walked off in a huff. Ken felt badly that Joe was so angry, but he didn't like this idea at all. It just wasn't safe. Not that Ken was scared… okay, maybe he was a _little_ scared at the idea of being in a moving car without a grownup. He had been hoping that by saying no, Joe wouldn't do it either.

But it looked like Joe was going to go through with it. Thinking of Joe driving a car all by himself was almost as scary as the thought of being there with him.

Nervously Ken shadowed Joe from a respectful distance as the other boy roamed the house in search of money. It didn't take him long to discover a drawer full of small bills in the kitchen that was used for tipping delivery people. Ken had forgotten that the small amount of cash was even there.

"Twenty dollars!" Joe crowed gleefully. "I'll get something good with this!" He threw a dismissive glance in Ken's direction.

"And I don't share with wusses."

Ken didn't have a response for that. Yet he didn't let Joe's show of bravado chase him off. He put on a jacket, grabbing one for Joe, and followed him out to the garage. Ken shivered in the December cold as he watched as Joe open the door and survey the large interior.

"Hakase left the Nissan!" Joe crowed, moving over toward an older, dusky blue sedan.

"What's so great about that car?" Ken asked. Joe was so entranced that he forgot that he wasn't happy with Ken for a moment.

"It's pretty old, so it has a lot of kilometers on it." he explained. "No one is going to notice a few more. Plus it's a little rusty, so a couple of scratches and dings won't be seen."

"Scratches and dings?" Ken's voice caught in his throat. "You're going to hit something?"

"I don't plan to, wuss!" Joe smirked. "But just in case."

Still smirking, Joe walked over to the pegboard lining the walls, grabbing a set of keys from a hook.

"How do you know those are the right ones?" Ken asked quietly.

"They say 'Nissan' on them, dummy!" Joe laughed. Ken didn't like the sound of it. Joe's laugh was wild… reckless… like he didn't care about consequences. And therein lay the difference between them. Joe was making a rash choice because he didn't care about the risks, while to Ken, the risks were everything.

Joe unlocked the car, opening the driver's side door and getting inside the vehicle. He put the key in the ignition, checking the dashboard as it lit up.

"Half a tank of gas!" he declared. "More than what I need." Eagerly he got inside the car, closing the door. Ken's heart caught in his throat. Was Joe actually going to go through with this? Could Ken stop him if he was? Maybe… maybe Joe actually _wanted_ Ken to stop him.

"Hey!" Ken walked over, knocking on the glass of the driver's side window. Joe was raising the seat height to its maximum, but he could still barely see over the wheel. He looked up in irritation, then rolled down the glass.

"What?" he asked in an exasperated tone.

"Are you sure you want to go through with this?"

"Duh."

"Then you might want to open the garage door." Ken gestured at the front wall.

"Oh." Joe appeared sheepish for a moment. "Yeah. Thanks." He reached up to the remote attached to the driver's side sunshade and pressed a button. With a click, the metal panels on the door began to rise up into the air.

"You sure you don't want to come?" Joe asked suddenly.

"Are you really going?"

"Of course!" Joe turned the key in the ignition and the engine roared to life. He looked away from Ken, carefully unlocking the parking break and bringing the shifter into the 'Drive' position. Slowly the car began inching forward.

"Wait!"

The car stopped suddenly with a jerk and Joe stuck his head out the window.

"What?"

"Okay, I'll come." Ken could hardly believe he was saying the words, but now they were out there. Somehow he was more afraid of Joe doing this reckless thing on his own, than of being involved in it himself.

"I knew you'd change your mind." Joe grinned with… was it relief? Ken didn't have time to analyze what was going on as he opened the back door and got inside.

"Don't you want to sit up front?" Joe asked, surprised.

"It's safer in the back." Ken explained.

"Whatever." Joe shrugged.

"Put on your seatbelt!" Ken instructed, as he clicked in his own safety harness.

"You're kidding, right?"

"I'm here, aren't I?" Ken challenged.

"All right…" Joe grumbled, but he latched his seatbelt. It made Ken feel slightly better. Yet his fingers clutched the edge of his seat as the car began to move again, rolling slowly out of the garage and onto the driveway.

"Man, it's cold!" Joe complained, rubbing his bare arms as winter air came in through the still-open window.

"Keep your hands on he steering wheel!" Ken screeched.

"Keep your shirt on!" Joe shot back. "I know what I'm doing! This is my second time!"

"_Second_?" Ken's throat squeaked as he realized how foolhardy this expedition truly was.

"Yeah, but I remember how it works." Joe insisted. Now that they were outside of the garage, he stepped on the gas and Ken flew back against the seat. Just as suddenly he slammed forward as Joe stepped on the brake.

"Oops… sorry." Joe laughed. "Just getting the hang of it again."

"I don't think this is such a good idea." Ken stated in a quavering voice.

"Too bad. You're here now." Joe shot back. Ken decided to stay quiet, to let Joe concentrate on the driving. Clearly he'd need all the focus he could muster.

Dr. Nambu's villa was set far back from the road on a large piece of property; so big that Ken had never truly explored it all. The driveway stretched for nearly a kilometer between the garage and the road. Joe now took the car out slowly onto the driveway, letting it move at idle speed as he gripped the wheel in both hands. Ken saw the lines of Joe's face tighten, suddenly realizing that perhaps some sense had finally leaked into the other boy's head.

"I can tell you're a good driver." Ken said suddenly. "You win. Let's go back now, huh?"

"I think I'm getting the hang of it…" Joe mumbled, his eyes narrowing in concentration. The driveway veered to the right just ahead and in anticipation, Joe began twisting the steering wheel.

But the car didn't turn.

"What's wrong?" Ken asked nervously.

"I don't know!" Joe shouted, slamming on the brakes. But the car didn't stop. Instead it continued moving forward, so smoothly that it was almost gliding, straight ahead instead of into the turn…

Ken's face was frozen in an expression of horror as he felt the car jump off the driveway and onto the ground. It continued to pick up steam while Joe pressed frantically at the brakes. It was only a second or two later that the Nissan rolled down a small hill, straight toward a thicket of bushes.

"Aaaah!" Ken cried out, paralyzed with fear. All he could do was watch as the car picked up a little speed and headed toward the thicket.

"Stop!" Joe shouted, but by then it was too late. They crashed into the bushes, Ken's seatbelt yanking him backward as a loud pop came from the front of the car. Joe's head was instantly buried inside what looked like a massive white balloon.

The car had stopped. Ken yanked off his seatbelt, scrambling up toward Joe.

"Are you okay?" He pulled the other boy back out of the now-deflating balloon, even as he flailed around. Joe came out gasping for air and groaning in pain. A dark purple bruise could already be seen forming on his right cheekbone.

"Thanks." Joe croaked, struggling to get out of the balloon. "Good thing the car has an airbag, right?"

"Yeah." Ken replied, still shaken. "Come on, let's get out."

Joe nodded reluctantly, then unlatched his seatbelt and eased open the door. Ken did the same, scrambling out of the vehicle as fast as he possibly could.

The moment Ken's feet hit the ground he slipped, and he had to grab onto the side of the car for balance. Instantly he understood what had happened. Underneath his feet, all around them over the ground and the driveway, was a thin sheet of ice. The car had been unable to find any purchase and had skidded off the road.

"Wow…" Joe stared at the car, rubbing his arms in the cold. Silently Ken held out Joe's jacket, which the boy wordlessly accepted and donned. Ken moved to the front of the car, reaching inside the driver's side door and turning off the engine. He pulled out the key and put it into his pocket. No sense tempting Joe into thinking he could drive the car back up to the garage.

But Joe didn't look like he wanted to drive anywhere. He stood off to the side, rubbing his bruised cheek with one hand while holding onto a tree with the other. His face was white, his face awash in shock and disbelief.

Carefully Ken scooted around to the hood, brushing away broken branches and dead leaves to see what kind of condition the car was in. Fresh scratches marred its blue paint, and it appeared as if a headlight was broken. The other side of the car had nicked a tree, and it was likely there were more than a few 'scratches and dings' underneath what remained of the vegetation.

"Parking brake…" Joe muttered. "Could roll away…"

"Thanks." Ken whispered, making his way back around to the driver's seat and setting the parking brake. For good measure, he put the vehicle shifter into the 'park' setting. Then he closed both doors and locked them.

"Guess we won't be getting any French fries today." he noted, tugging gently on Joe's arm. The boy's hand was still rubbing his face.

"Here…" Ken said, kicking at the side of a rock and causing a few chunks of ice to come loose. "Put this on it. We can get more at the house."

"Okay." Joe appeared unusually docile, and Ken guessed that the boy truly had been scared by the entire affair. Of course, the worst was yet to come. What would Dr. Nambu say when he saw what they had done to his car?

Whatever it was, they'd face it together. Somehow, Ken felt better, knowing that.

Carefully Ken scrambled up the hill, slipping a little on the ice but holding onto exposed roots and plants to find purchase. Joe followed behind, a little more slowly since he only had use of one hand. Once they got to level ground they were able to trudge carefully back to the front door of the villa.

Joe approached the door, but his shoulders sagged and he ruefully stepped aside for Ken, gesturing at the keypad affixed into the wall. Ken realized that without him, Joe would have been locked out, as Ken had been long ago.

"The code is 5321." Ken sighed. "Prime numbers. Just in case you need it."

"5321…" Joe mumbled. "Okay." He appeared somewhat defeated as they entered the house, moving through the hallways and dropping onto a chair at the kitchen table as soon as they had entered. Ken grabbed a paper towel and wet it in the sink, then carefully pulled away the nearly-melted ice from Joe's face and washed his cheek.

"I'll get you some more." Ken offered, grabbing a few ice cubes form the freezer and putting them in another paper towel before handing it to Joe.

"Are you feeling okay?" Ken asked, worried.

"Yeah…" Joe's head hung down, but now he turned slightly to look at Ken.

"Thanks." he said. "You're… you're okay."

"Thanks." Ken replied, feeling warmed by the compliment. Joe groaned slightly, leaning back on his chair. His free hand fished around in his pocket, pulling out a wad of bills and tossing it onto the table.

"Here." he muttered. "Guess you can put that back."

"No…" Ken disagreed, a thought popping into his head. "I have a better idea."

88888

An hour later the doorbell rang, and Ken went to answer it, carefully peering out the peephole first.

"Hi." he said to the scrawny teenager at the door, before turning his head and calling back into the house. "Dad! Pizza's here!" He pulled the wad of bills out of his pocket, thrusting it out at the youth in front of him.

"Extra-large pepperoni, mushroom and cheese, and a six-pack of Coke." the teenager intoned, taking the cash. "You got that?"

"Yeah, thanks." Ken said, carefully balancing the pizza and the soda cans. "Bye." He shut and locked the door, then grinned to himself. He had done it! He had gotten 'real food' without putting their lives at risk. Next time, he'd have to be more insistent when Joe got some crazy idea. He smiled even wider as he realized that he already knew that there would be a 'next time'.

Unlike the previous day's lunch, Joe was effusive in his praise of the pizza, and the two boys stuffed themselves at the kitchen table. Ken even put the leftovers into the fridge, so that they could be put in the microwave the next day, and Joe made no comments about 'cooking'. Thusly recovered from their morning adventure, the two boys retired to the family room for another round of video games.


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Two men sat in a white van bearing a cable company logo. The van was parked just off the road, yet had a clear view of the driveway that led up into the trees to Dr. Nambu's villa. The men were dressed in coveralls, but their burly forms did not appear to be comfortable in such attire.

"I hate this thing." one man said, yanking at his collar. "It itches!" His squat, rotund body was stuffed into the white coverall, the sleeves rolled up to accommodate his short arms.

"Quiet, Samson!" the other hissed, a pair of binoculars glued to his face. "This could mess everything up, and you're complaining about your collar?" The man grimaced, his tall, lean body squished into the driver's seat. His head bumped up against the roof of the van as Samson nudged him while he scratched.

"Sorry Dorn." Samson replied. "It's just this cotton stuff, you know? Gives me a rash! I prefer our polyester uniforms any day…"

"Just shut up!" Dorn snapped, and Samson grew quiet for a moment.

"What do you see, Dorn?"

Dorn rolled his eyes to the van's ceiling for an instant as if praying for strength, then lowered the binoculars form his eyes and turned to glare at Samson.

"I see our promotions going down the tubes; that's what I see!" he growled. "Nambu was supposed to be gone! But now there's a pizza delivery guy who just came and went! Someone's up there!"

"Maybe it was pizza for someone else?" Samson suggested.

"There's no one else up that driveway, idiot! Private property!" Dorn gestured to the signs posted along the fence that outlined the villa grounds. "He had to be delivering pizza to someone up there! Nambu's still home!"

"But we saw him get on that plane yesterday morning." Samson protested.

"Maybe it was a shorter trip than we thought." Dorn moaned. "Lord Katse will have our hides if we don't succeed at this mission!"

"Maybe it's not Nambu." Samson thought hard. "It's a big house, right? Maybe he has someone watching it for him while he's gone?"

"Maybe." Dorn frowned. "I want to check some things out. Let's come back tonight and see if that 'caretaker' is still here."

"Okay." Samson agreed. He liked it when Dorn had a plan. Dorn's plans were always good ones.

88888

"Did you hear something?" Ken sat straight up on the couch, where he had dozed off an hour or so before. Joe was still battling space marines on the television screen, and waved a hand at him.

"Probably just one of my electron bombs going off." he said.

"No, there was something else." Ken insisted. He had never been a light sleeper, and the volume on the television was low. It had to have been another sound. Something inside of him was insisting that things weren't right.

Carefully, Ken went over to the window, pulling aside the curtain and peering outside into the darkness. It was dark amongst the trees, but Ken thought perhaps he could see something… was that an animal in the forest?

Before he could focus on it, the movement was gone.

Ken shrugged, brushing off his suspicions as silly dreams, walking out of the family room and down the hallway to the kitchen, turning lights on as he went. He opened the fridge, burying his head inside as he reached for another container of Jello.

88888

"There's someone in there!" Samson whispered loudly. Dorn felt like throttling the imbecile, but unfortunately he needed him. He settled instead for briefly swatting at the back of Samson's head, but the idiot barely noticed.

Unfortunately, Samson's conclusion was all too correct. Samson had stepped on a twig, the resulting snap echoing through the otherwise quiet night. The two men had dashed into the cover of the nearby trees and bushes, but there had definitely been a fluttering at the curtains. For a brief moment, Dorn had been able to see soft flickering light, such as that from a television, filtering out into the darkness.

Then the curtain had dropped back and lights had come on in the hallway, moving through the house until they reached the room Dorn knew was the kitchen. There was someone present all right. No doubt about it. This definitely wasn't an automatic timer.

"Stay here!" Dorn hissed at Samson, knowing full well the man wouldn't listen or obey. He crept through the night to the kitchen window, staying low to the ground to avoid detection. When he reached the edge of the house he pushed up slowly, until he could just see a partial image through the slats of the shutters.

"The fridge is open!" Samson gasped, for which Dorn gave the man another smack. Not wanting to risk discovery, Dorn backed away quickly. Fortunately Samson followed his lead. The two men hiked through the forest, going back to their van, which was now parked three kilometers away.

"Someone's living there!" Samson once again stated the obvious. "Is it Nambu?"

"Galactor Intelligence reports that the plane on which Nambu departed yesterday morning has not returned." Dorn replied stiffly. "It is highly unlikely that the good Doctor chose another mode of transportation to return home after less than forty-eight hours away. It's more likely that this is some kind of caretaker. Damn it!"

"Hey, I guess those ISO stiffs are smarter than we thought, huh?" Samson snickered.

"I wouldn't laugh if I were you." Dorn lectured. "Lord Katse won't be too pleased if he finds out that we have failed."

"Oh…" Samson was taken aback, then quickly became afraid. "We can't fail!"

"If it's just one man, he shouldn't prove to be too much trouble for us." Dorn decided. "Sure, Nambu will find the body when he gets back, but by then it will be too late."

"So let's go right now!" Samson declared.

"We can't go into the house right now, you moron! The security system is still intact!" Dorn took a deep breath, doing his best not to let his frustration get to him. "We'll do it as we planned. Tomorrow night we'll interrupt the system for thirty minutes. That should be enough time to get in and get out, even if we have to get rid of the caretaker."

"We can do it, Dorn!" Samson assured him. Somehow, his optimism only made Dorn feel less confident.

88888

"So was there anything?" Joe asked vaguely when Ken returned, two containers of Jello in hand and a spoon in his mouth.

"Nope." Ken replied, putting down his snack. "I think it was an animal in the forest."

"Maybe it was Santa." Joe snickered.

"That's not for two more nights, stupid!" Ken berated the other boy. "Besides, Santa lands on the roof and comes down the chimney."

"Do you _really_ think a fat guy in a red suit slides down the chimney and leaves presents?" Joe asked derisively.

"Why?" Ken's eyes narrowed. "Don't you?"

"Course not." Joe scoffed. "Santa is for babies. He doesn't bring anything. It's the parents who bring stuff."

"If you don't believe in Santa, he won't bring you anything." Ken reasoned. "So your parents have to leave you stuff, or you won't get anything. Anyhow, my parents don't leave me stuff."

"I'll bet Hakase does."

"Hakase's not here."

"Yeah." A sly grin crossed Joe's face. "I guess we'll see, then. If there are no presents this year, that means Santa didn't come. But if presents show up and Hakase's not here, then Santa's real."

"Yeah…" Ken agreed, but something didn't feel right about the entire matter.

"What did you ask for?" Ken wanted to know.

"I didn't ask for anything," Joe shrugged, "because there's no one to bring it."

"Guess you'll lose out then," Ken needled him, "because he won't know what to bring you. I asked for some new model airplane kits and two video games and some candy and a space rocket."

"I don't want any of that stuff." Joe said suddenly, a grim look on his face. "All I want is a gun."

"A… _what_?" Ken nearly choked on his spoonful of Jello.

"A gun. What, you think I've never used a gun before?" Joe turned to glare at Ken, a hard look in his eyes. "My Dad taught me. But I need a gun so I can shoot the people who killed my parents."

"Oh…" Ken rooted around for an appropriate response before blurting, "Hakase has a gun."

"How do you know?"

"He showed me once." Ken answered. "He said when I was older he'd teach me to use it. But until then, he wanted me to stay away from it."

"When was that?"

"I don't know… last spring?"

"So you're older now." Joe reasoned.

"Well yeah, I was eight then."

"So show me where it is."

"You're not going to use it, are you?"

"Did you kill my parents?"

"No!"

"Well there's no one else here, so I'm not going to use it."

With logic like that, Ken couldn't think of an appropriate response. Something didn't seem right about showing Joe Dr. Nambu's gun, but he had been the one who had brought it up in the first place. He supposed it would be all right to show Joe where it was, just like the Doctor had shown him.

Solemnly, Ken led Joe down the hall to a storage room: a chamber that had in the past been used as an extension of Dr. Nambu's office. The room was filled with locked cabinets, resembling a government installation more than a room in a sprawling villa. Both boys were silent as they entered, instinctively in awe of the importance of these things hidden away behind lock and key.

"Where is it?" Joe whispered, his nervousness betrayed by his quavering voice.

"Over there." Ken whispered back, his hushed tone revealing his own discomfort. He pointed to one of the cabinets along the wall. "That's it."

Joe walked gingerly over to the cabinet, pulling slightly at the door handle.

"It's locked." he noted.

"Yeah," Ken nodded, "the key is in Hakase's office."

"Do you know where?" Joe asked.

"Sort of." Ken admitted, his face flushing. "I wasn't supposed to be watching, but once I saw Hakase put it away in his desk."

"Let's…" It appeared as if Joe was about to suggest retrieving the key, but then suddenly thought better of it. "Let's go back to the kitchen. I'm hungry." Ken stared sharply at Joe, but the other boy simply glared back at him.

"Do you have a problem with that?" Joe demanded, an edge to his voice.

"Nope." Ken shrugged. "No problem."

88888

That night the boys turned off the video games in time to retire to the bunker before falling asleep. When they turned the lights out it was completely black, thanks to the lack of windows, but they played with the flashlights, shining them at themselves, each other, and around the room, until they dropped into an exhausted slumber. However it was a strange feeling for Ken to wake up to the same darkness, broken only by his flashlight, still shining underneath his bedclothes. Fortunately the device used low-power LED bulbs, and hadn't burned out during the night.

After the misadventure with the car the previous day, neither boy wanted to involve himself in anything too dangerous, yet they were inclined to stretch their legs. With this in mind they braved the cold, dressing in warm gloves and jackets and heading outdoors to play. Taking care to be mindful of the ice, which had proven so treacherous the day before, they passed through the villa's 'backyard' and into the woods that lay beyond. It was slow going, making their way through the tangle of bushes and trees behind the villa.

"Hey, Ken, what kind of animal was that you saw out here last night?" Joe asked suddenly. Ken was instantly suspicious.

"I don't know." Ken replied. "I didn't really see much. Why?"

"That's the family room window over there, right?" Joe pointed out. "There are a lot of broken branches and stuff from these bushes, so the animal would have been here. It must have been pretty big to do all of that."

"Let me see." Ken said, moving over to where Joe was standing. As the other boy had said, there were a lot of crushed and broken branches in the bushes near the trees, as if something had pushed into them. Ken remembered seeing similar damage at the site of the car's crash the previous morning. And there was something else strange about this area… Ken just couldn't put his finger on it.

He stared at the bushes, looking for any other sign of disturbance. When he found none, he carefully pushed the branches apart, peering inside. What he saw there caused him to cry out loud.

"What is it?" Joe asked, moving closer so that he could see as well. Ken pointed at the ground underneath the bushes, which unlike the rest of the area was free of ice. There, in the cold muddy ground, was unmistakably a set of bootprints.

"They… they could have been made by Mr. Epps." Joe offered, but he didn't sound so certain.

"Why would Mr. Epps be standing inside of a bush and breaking it like this?" Ken asked. "He's the gardener! He wouldn't mess up a bush like this! Besides, you already said that this was where the… thing… was last night!"

The two boys stood in silence for a moment, digesting this frightening discovery.

"Someone was here." Ken stated out loud what was running through both of their minds. "Someone was watching us. Someone who wasn't supposed to be here."

"How do you know he wasn't supposed to be here?" Joe demanded.

"If he was supposed to be here, say, if Hakase had sent him to check up on us, he would have rung the doorbell." Ken pointed out. "If it was Mr. Epps, or another garden worker, he would have been out in the middle of the yard, not standing in the middle of a bush. Whoever he was, he wasn't supposed to be here."

"Do you think it was the pizza guy?" Joe asked hopefully. Yet both boys knew the answer to his question.

"No." Ken shook his head.

"So who would be standing in the bushes and watching the house in the middle of the night?" Joe questioned.

"Maybe…" Ken's face screwed up in thought for a moment. "Maybe it was a burglar."

"A burglar?" Joe was surprised.

"Sure. Hakase has a big house, and lots of stuff. I'll bet lots of people might want to rob him!"

"But a guy like that couldn't get into the house, right?" Joe asked.

"No, Hakase's got a big security system." Ken agreed, but then an expression of chagrin crossed his face. "Except… I turned it off."

"You turned it off?" Joe was aghast. "How could you do that?"

"Yesterday, when we went to the garage," Ken explained, "I turned it off so we wouldn't set off the alarms."

"Oh." Joe had no further response.

"I guess I forgot to turn it on again afterward." Ken admitted.

"Let's go turn it on again now."

"Yeah."

The two boys went back inside the house, neither of them feeling as safe or as comfortable as they had a few moments before.


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

"You know, it's almost Christmas." Joe observed, once they were back in the kitchen in front of steaming bowls of macaroni and cheese.

"Yeah, I know." Ken rolled his eyes.

"But you'd never know looking around this place." Joe pointed out. "There are no decorations. No _tree_."

"You want to get a Christmas tree?" Ken asked, surprised.

"I just thought it might be… nice… if we had a tree." Joe admitted sheepishly. "More… like home."

"Oh." Suddenly, Ken understood. Joe had lost his parents relatively recently, and this was his first Christmas without them. He probably wanted it to feel more like the holidays, especially with Dr. Nambu gone.

"Could we get a tree from outside?"

"Where the burglar was?"

"It's daytime." Joe blustered as if he had something to prove. "We'll stay close."

"We don't have to go outside." Ken informed him.

"Why not?"

"Hakase has a tree in the attic." Ken grinned, pleased to have found a solution that did not involve going outside again.

"In the attic? A… a _fake_ tree?" Joe was outraged.

"Unless you want to go outside and get one."

"Well…" Joe appeared to be seriously considering the idea, but then thought better of it. "Okay. I've never had a fake tree, but I guess we could try it."

Ken led Joe up to the attic, where they rooted around until they uncovered the Christmas decorations, tree and all. The tree consisted of a long aluminum pole into which green branches were inserted. The entire thing reminded Ken of a bunch of pipe cleaners, but it also reminded him of Dr. Nambu. Every year the two of them would put this pathetic excuse for a tree together, and it was something Ken looked forward to. Of course, this year the Doctor was gone, but now he had Joe.

Maybe things weren't so bad after all.

It took the better part of an hour for the two boys to lug all of the boxes down to the living room, and another hour for them to unpack everything. But the rest of the day was spent decorating the villa from top to bottom. But the time night fell, garlands were strung on every banister, knick-knacks were placed in every corner, and the tree was assembled in the living room. It seemed to Ken that it had taken forever to put all of the branches in the right place. In any event there still appeared to be spots where the thing did not have the correct 'conical' shape, yet by then he knew it was the best that they could do.

"I guess the ornaments come next." Joe suggested, after a dinner of leftover pizza.

"Nope. Lights first." Ken corrected.

"Yeah." Joe agreed. "I forgot." He began to search through the remaining boxes.

"I can't find the lights." he complained.

"What do you mean, you can't find them?" Ken sighed. "They're right there, in that plastic bag."

"Those aren't the right ones." Joe insisted. "They're multi-colored."

"Yeah. So?" Ken was confused.

"You can't put multi-colored lights on a tree!" Joe appeared shocked. "They have to all be one color. Like white, or blue."

"All one color?" Ken frowned. "That sounds kind of boring."

"That's how my Mom always did it." Joe insisted.

"Oh." Ken didn't want to refute Joe's memories of his mother. Certainly that wasn't what he and Dr. Nambu had done, but then, Dr. Nambu wasn't here.

"I think there's a string of white lights in that box." Ken pointed. "I saw it earlier."

"Okay." Joe went looking for the desired lights, but instead pulled out something entirely different.

"What's this?" he asked, pulling open a blue cloth bag.

"Those are the stockings." Ken told him. "One for Hakase and…" His voice drifted off as he realized what was missing.

"There are three." Joe observed curiously.

"This one is Hakase's." Ken said, holding up a deep red quilted stocking made from fine silk. It bore a vague resemblance to the smoking jackets men wore in those old films the Doctor liked to watch.

"This one…" Ken pulled out a dusky blue stocking with a reindeer on the front, "is mine." He had used it up until the previous year, when the Doctor had surprised him with a new one. Ken looked at the third stocking, bright green with snowmen on it. Somehow, it didn't feel like it belonged to him.

"This one's yours." Ken informed Joe, handing over the green stocking. "Do you want to put them on the mantle? I think there are holders in there too."

Joe grinned in surprise as Ken handed him the stocking, nodding happily.

"I see them." he reported. "Let's do it!" And so two minutes later the boys sat below the mantle, admiring the three stockings as they hung in front of the cold fireplace. Yet there was something missing: no warmth from the hearth, no Christmas music, no fresh-baked cookies, no hot chocolate or cider to sip from a steaming mug.

"Time for the lights." Ken decided.

"Yeah." Joe agreed. "I think I saw the white ones you mentioned."

They did find the lights, as well as the ornaments, and after another ninety minutes a fully decorated tree completed the scene. The living room was now lit by the soft glow of LED bulbs, filtered by man-made plastic-simulating fibers of dark green pine-like needles. A full assortment of ornaments from Christmases past adorned the tree, which had been completed with a half packet of tinsel that had been discovered at the bottom of one of the boxes.

Ken and Joe lay on the floor, their heads practically touching the tree's aluminum trunk as they looked up through the branches to their dim view of the gilded plastic star and angel perched precariously at the top. Neither boy spoke, preferring instead to absorb the moment of pride in what they had accomplished, as well as the comforting feeling that the holiday was here at last.

The doorbell rang.

"What was that?" Ken asked, sitting up suddenly, jostling the tree's branches in the process.

"The doorbell, dummy!" Joe answered, but his words held more bravado than his voice. "You must have ordered pizza again."

"No." Ken shook his head, his eyes turning to meet those of the other boy. "Do you think it's… the burglar?"

"Why would the burglar ring the doorbell?" Joe asked, just as the bell rang again.

"We turned the security system on." Ken reminded himself.

"So no one can get in, right?"

"No." Yet somehow, Ken wasn't entirely certain.

"So let's see who it is!" Joe's words were brave, yet he prodded Ken to take the lead. Slowly, Ken made his way to the front door, nervously putting one foot in front of the other until he had reached the main entrance to the villa.

"Who is it?" Joe hissed from behind.

Standing on tiptoe, Ken peered through the peephole, checking to see who was outside. It looked like two… repairmen?

"Cable service!" one of the men called out. "We're here to fix your TV!"

"Our TV is fine!" Ken called back, before realizing that perhaps it might have been better not to have spoken.

"Are you sure? We have reports of outages in the area." the man replied. "Let us in so we can check your connection."

"What do we do?" Ken whispered furiously to Joe.

"We can't let them in." Joe said. "If they find out we're alone…"

"What if they're the burglars?" Ken thought out loud, a cold feeling in the pit of his stomach.

"The security system will keep them out, right?" Joe reminded Ken.

"Yeah…" Ken turned back to the door, raising his voice once more.

"Just checked, everything's fine! You can go now!" Ken and Joe scrambled away from the door and toward a nearby window, to watch the men and see what they did. To their intense relief, they saw the two repairmen turn around and head back down to the driveway.

88888

"He won't let us in." Samson sighed glumly. "Guess we'll have to tell Lord Katse…"

"Idiot!" Dorn berated his partner. "Of course not! We disabled the security system, remember? We still have more than twenty minutes! We'll just break in. One man won't be a problem."

"He sounded pretty wimpy." Samson noted.

"Yeah…" Dorn replied thoughtfully. "Kind of like… naw… that can't be right."

"What?"

"Like a kid." Dorn shrugged. "Trust Nambu to leave his house in the hands of a nerd whose voice sounds like a kid's."

"You don't think it could be a kid?" Samson asked. "Does Nambu have a kid?"

"No." Dorn frowned. "But I think I remember something… I don't know."

"So what do we do now?"

"If he won't let us in, we'll just have to let ourselves in." Dorn decided.

88888

"Do you think they're really gone?" Joe asked Ken, a touch of anxiety in his voice.

"I guess…" Ken answered uncertainly. He looked at Joe, and saw the nervousness he felt reflected there. "They won't come back…"

"They know we're here. They won't come in if someone's in the house."

"They knew we were here last night." Ken pointed out. "They saw us through the window."

"Maybe they weren't sure… so they came back today, realized we were here, and left. Or maybe they really were guys from the cable company."

"If they were guys from the cable company, we wouldn't be… worried."

"Maybe." Joe's eyes darted around the entrance hall, but eventually he sighed, lowering them to the floor. "Let's go play some more video games." he suggested.

"Okay." Ken agreed. Anything to get them away from the front door. Yet as he moved down the hallway he was still on edge, listening, ready to jump if the sound of the doorbell rang through the villa once more.

It wasn't the doorbell he heard.

"What's that?" Joe asked, his head swiveling.

"It's coming from that way." Ken pointed. Carefully the two boys crept along the hallway until they reached the side door. Normally this door was only used for access to the garage, but Ken had made sure to lock it carefully and reset the security system after their scare that morning.

Someone was at the door. They could hear sounds of scuffling and rattling. Muffled voices came through.

"They're breaking in!" Joe appeared torn between outrage and fear.

"The security system…" Ken moaned, suddenly realizing that for some reason it wasn't working.

"Screw the security system, they're breaking in!" Joe hissed, turning and running in the other direction down the corridor. Ken was hot on his heels. Ten seconds later the two boys were ensconced on the floor of a hall closet, hiding behind Dr. Nambu's overcoats. A thin sliver of light was visible under the bottom edge of the door; otherwise the darkness was unbroken.

"What if they check the closet?" Joe had sudden doubts about his impulsive choice of hiding place.

"They're not breaking in to steal some jackets!" Ken replied confidently. Nevertheless, he pulled himself back further behind the row of coats.

They could hear the men now. They had clearly entered the house, and were coming down that very hallway.

"Hello!" one of the men called. "We're just checking the cable!"

"Stop that!" the other man hissed. "Clearly he doesn't buy it. Let's just get in and get out. If he gives us any trouble, you know what to do."

"Yeah." the first man replied. "So where do we go?"

"Where do you think Nambu would keep his files? In his office, idiot!" the second man answered angrily. There was a sound like a light smack.

"So where's his office?"

"According to my intelligence, it's down this way… I think…" The voices were getting quieter.

"Joe, we have to stop them!" Ken whispered furiously.

"What? They just want something from Hakase's office! Then they'll leave!"

"They want _files_, Joe! Important stuff! Don't you get it?"

"They're… spies!" Now Joe appeared as angry as Ken. "We have to stop them!"

"Yeah, I said that." Ken agreed. "Let's go!"

Carefully the closet door opened, Ken stepping out into the hallway. Ahead of him he could see the backs of the two men as they moved down the hallway, checking the rooms they passed. It was definitely the same two men who had been at the door: both dressed in repairman's coveralls, one short and one tall. The spies were only a couple of meters away from Dr. Nambu's office. It was now or never.

Ken ran down the hallway, screaming his best 'warrior's cry' and launching his feet at the back of the taller man's thighs. He hit with both feet, then pivoted back in a somersault as he had been taught in his martial arts lessons. His spine protested as it rolled along the hard wooden floor; this was nothing like the practice mats he used in class. Yet Ken ignored it, scrambling to his feet. The tall man had fallen, crying out in pain. Quickly Ken stepped in, delivering a chop blow to the man's neck, hoping that he remembered how to correctly perform the maneuver. When the man groaned again, Ken scrambled to get ahead of him: between the spy and Dr. Nambu's office.

Beside him, Joe was bashing the short man with a heavy umbrella he had borrowed from the closet. In between blows, Joe delivered a few well-aimed kicks to the man's groin, causing the short spy to keel over in pain. Joe joined Ken, seeming to instinctively understand the importance of body placement in protecting the Doctor's files.

"Get out of here!" Ken shouted. "We called 911! The cops are coming!"

"Yeah, get out!" Joe added, kicking the short man in the stomach for good measure and brandishing his umbrella.

"You kids can't keep us out of here…" the tall man groaned, pulling himself to a stand.

"You want to face the cops? Fine!" Ken summoned all his courage before kicking the man in the groin, just as Joe had done to the other spy. The tall man doubled over with a satisfactory groan, and Ken felt a sudden rush of power.

The shorter man was scrambling backward down the hallway, back toward the side door, while Joe followed, chasing him with the umbrella. Ken kicked out again, but the taller man avoided the blow. Still, he seemed reluctant to proceed, throwing a disgusted glance at his fleeing partner.

"Stupid kids!" the tall man muttered, reaching into his pocket. Suddenly Ken found himself staring into the barrel of a pistol. Liquid fear ran down his spine, but even as it threatened to take ahold of him, his sensei's words appeared in his mind. Ken had been taught what to do if a stranger ever pulled a weapon on him. All he had to do now was remember…

To Ken, his next actions seemed to be in slow motion. He stared into the gun, its acrid, oily scent assaulting his nostrils. At the same time his right leg rose, lifting and turning around in a perfect roundhouse kick, his foot arcing high until it circled almost in front of Ken's face, impacting the man's hand with a loud crack. Ken ducked down even as his foot descended, the gun hitting the floor with a loud crash. He reached out, grabbing the firearm and tossing it into the air.

Joe's eyes widened as he saw what Ken was doing. He reached out, grabbing for the gun just as it reached him, literally snatching it from the grasp of the tall man, who suddenly found himself on the wrong end of his own pistol.

"We said, get out!" Joe snarled. "You think I haven't held a gun before? Well I have, and I know how to use it!" He waved the firearm threateningly upward, at the tall man's face.

"No, let's leave them here for the police to lock up." Ken smirked, moving forward to back up Joe, should the men get any ideas.

"Police? They really did call 911! I'm out of here!" the short man sobbed, scrambling toward the side door and bolting outside. The tall man stared in amazement, then sneered at the two boys.

"You won't get away with this, you little punks!" he promised, before turning to follow his partner. Once he was gone Ken slammed the door shut, locking it and throwing the deadbolt. He checked the security system control pad on the wall. It was dark, but just as Ken raised his hand to check on it, the pad flashed on again, a green light illuminating its buttons.

"They're gone!" Joe said in amazement, his hand dropping to his side, the gun still held limply in his fingers.

"I hope they stay gone." Ken replied, knowing even as he did that such hope was unlikely.

"I can't believe we did that…" Joe muttered, looking down at his hand and suddenly seeing the gun there, as if realizing for the first time what it was he was holding. "Holy crap!" Gingerly he set the gun down on the floor, carefully pointing it away from both himself and Ken.

"We did it…" A grin broke out on Ken's face, stretching across his cheeks.

"Hakase's files are safe!" Joe crowed.

"Not if they come back." Ken's elation vanished as quickly as it had appeared.

"You didn't call the police, did you?" Joe asked.

"No!" Ken confirmed. "When could I have done that? And what would the police do if they showed up and we were here all alone?"

"Yeah…" Joe muttered. "What do you think it was they were after?"

"Files." Ken shrugged. "Hakase has lots of files. Lots of important stuff."

"He's smart." Joe agreed. "I'll bet those spies would want anything Hakase was working on."

"He left papers on his desk." Ken recalled.

"We should get them." Joe decided. "Hide them."

The two boys went down the hall, entering Dr. Nambu's office, looking around with youthful exaggeration of their own self-importance. Joe had picked up the gun once more, and was now pointing it at every shadow, while Ken was checked on the shades, making sure they were drawn tightly, so that no one could look inside. When they were both satisfied that no one else was there, they approached the desk.

"Look at all this stuff!" Joe whispered in amazement at the array of diagrams and calculations scattered across the Doctor's desk. "And there's more of it!" He pointed to the filing cabinets lining the walls.

"I think these things are important." Ken gestured at the desk. "Hakase was looking at them before he left. But the most important stuff is in the safe."

"The safe?" Joe's curiosity was piqued.

"Over here." Ken said, moving over to the corner of the room and pressing a hidden button on the underside of the thermostat. On the opposite side of the room, a wall panel slid back, revealing a thick metal door approximately thirty centimeters high and forty-five centimeters wide. The door had no handle, but a keypad sat in its center.

"How do you know about that?" Joe was amazed.

"I saw…" Ken admitted. "When I was little, I used to hide in there and watch Hakase while he worked." He pointed at a side cabinet where a small fridge was housed.

"In the fridge?"

"No. Hakase had that put in after he caught me." Ken admitted.

"He caught you? Was he mad?"

"No." Ken frowned, slightly confused by the memory. "I was pretty little. Maybe five. But he had the fridge put in and told me I couldn't hide there anymore. That I had to tell him I was there."

"Huh…" Joe moved over to the safe, already forgetting Ken's story. "Do you know the keycode?"

"Yes." Ken admitted. "I saw him type it in."

"You said it was when you were little. Is it the same now?"

"Maybe." Ken shrugged. "I'll try." He walked over to the safe, pressing in the eight digits in order, lingering slightly on the last one. Yet as he lifted his finger, there was a hissing sound and the door slowly swung open.

"That's amazing! How did you remember all those numbers?" Joe wanted to know.

"It's my Dad's birthday." Ken told him. "They were friends."

Joe only nodded, already peering inside the safe to see what it contained.

"A bunch more papers." he reported. "And a data key."

"That's got to be it." Ken deduced. "A data key, inside the safe! That _has_ to be the most important thing in here!"

"We need to hide it." Joe decided. "If we leave it here, eventually those guys will find it. But where can we hide something this important? They'll look everywhere for it!"

"Unless we put it in a secret place." Ken suggested. He grinned at Joe, and realized the other boy was thinking the same thing he was.

"The bunker!"


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

"Ow…" Samson moaned as he pressed ice against his bruised thighs. "That kid hit hard…"

"You idiot, he's just a kid!" Dorn lectured, although he had his own icepacks against numerous bruises. "Two kids! There are no adults there at all!"

"Two kids who sent us packing!" Samson pointed out. "And called the cops!"

"They took us by surprise, that's all." Dorn muttered angrily. "And they didn't call the cops. If they had, the police would be here by now. I'm not going to let two snot-nosed brats keep me from my promotion! We promised Lord Katse the file, and we're going to get it!"

"But how?" Samson asked. "The security system went back on! We can't go back tonight!"

"We'll cut the phone lines now, just in case they actually do try to call the cops, then come back tomorrow and permanently take out the security system." Dorn decided.

"But those kids are there!"

"We'll take care of those punks." Dorn smirked. "Just you wait and see."

88888

It didn't take the two boys long to decide that if the bunker was safe enough for the files, it was also a good place for them to hide. Taking all of the papers from the Doctor's desk, as well as the files from his safe, they retreated to the bunker, hiding the papers underneath one of the mattresses on the bottom bunks. Joe insisted on placing the data key inside three ziploc bags, sealing them tightly, and then placing the entire affair inside the toilet tank, insisting that he had seen it in a movie. Ken didn't ask what would happen if the spies had seen the same movie. If the spies found the bunker, they were toast.

They spent a restless night locked in the bunker, afraid that the men would return. And yet when morning broke and they discovered that they were still alone in the villa, their fears did not abate.

"They're coming back." Ken said over a hurried breakfast of ham and cheese sandwiches. "They want the files. They won't let a couple of kids stop them."

"We can stop them!" Joe insisted.

"I know that. But they won't think so." Ken clarified. "We have to show them."

"Show them… yeah…" Joe grinned slowly. "When they come back, we'll show them who's boss."

"We'll be ready for them." Ken declared, while Joe nodded vigorously.

"I have an idea."

88888

"K'so!"

Dr. Nambu sat bolt upright in bed with the shock of his realization, scrambling over to his bedside in a desperate hurry to reach the phone. He could hardly believe he'd been so careless! He had been so excited to deliver his address regarding his research on regenerative metals. The ISO Board Members had been very interested in the transformative properties of such metals, agreeing to fund his research to levels he had never dreamed. Even more, they had become intrigued by his mention that the same transformative properties could be applied to fabrics, to create regenerative materials. Yet in all of that excitement, he had made a terrible mistake.

How could he have left Ken and Joe at the villa alone? Of course, he was used to having his staff take care of the boys when he had to work, but it had slipped Nambu's mind that over the holidays all household personnel had two weeks off to be with their own families. In his rush to leave, the Doctor had forgotten that this week the house would be empty of adults.

How long had it been? Dr. Nambu counted backwards, quickly coming to the conclusion that the boys had been on their own for three days. And today was Christmas Eve! The Doctor berated himself for his own carelessness. Of course, Ken and Joe were nine years old. They could take care of themselves. But what if there had been an accident?

His hands shaking, Dr. Nambu picked up the phone, placing the long-distance call to his home in Utoland. Yet the phone rang and rang, with no connection to voicemail.

Something was terribly wrong.

The Doctor jumped out of bed, hastily throwing his things in his case, mentally preparing his explanation to Subdirector Anderson for his immediate departure.

88888

By the time the sun set that evening, Ken was so tired he wished he could simply drop into bed. He had spent the entire day working on various projects to ensure that if the spies came back, that they would face an uphill battle. There was no way that he and Joe were going to let those men have Dr. Nambu's files. Whatever was in them was important enough for the spies to want, which meant that there would be terrible consequences if they obtained the information. Who knew? Perhaps the fate of the entire world was at stake!

"Are you ready?" Joe asked breathlessly, sticking his head into the kitchen. His face was red, his hair unkempt, but the expression he wore was one of grim determination.

"I'm done here." Ken reported. "How about you?"

"Yeah." Joe grinned. "Those guys won't know what hit them! Do you think they'll be back tonight?"

"I think so." Ken answered. "They want those files, and they want to get them before Hakase returns. I sort of thought they might have come already."

"They're chicken." Joe declared. "They only want to sneak in at night, when it's dark."

"I guess so." Ken replied, deep in thought, reviewing the plans he had made today. He explained to Joe what he had done, being careful to show him where it was safe to walk. Joe did the same for Ken, proudly showing off everything he had accomplished.

"You've got some pretty good ideas." Ken complimented the other boy.

"Yours are good too." Joe responded. "I wish I could see their faces when they find out what we've got in store for them!"

"I'd prefer it if they didn't show up at all." Ken admitted.

"Me too." Joe unexpectedly agreed. "But that's not going to happen… right?"

"Yeah." Ken concurred. "They'll be here. But we'll be ready."

88888

"Those little brats won't know what hit them!" Samson boasted, hefting his rifle in his arms. "One shot and they won't bother us any more!" The short man was almost comical as he stood the rifle next to him, little realizing that it was almost as tall as he was.

"Just watch where you aim that thing!" Dorn admonished. "I don't want to come home with a bullet in me. Besides, it's better if we can make this whole thing look like an accident. An untended home, two children on their own… Lord Katse would prefer that we not draw attention to Galactor just yet. The time is not yet right for our unveiling to the world." He intoned the words pompously, clearly by rote.

"You sound just like Lord Katse!" Samson was impressed.

"Well… if you say so." Dorn preened.

"Sir, what are our orders?" asked a man in a green uniform, complete with fanged mask. It was identical to those worn by Samson and Dorn, except that it lacked the sergeant's stripes on the shoulders.

"You six will approach the house from the rear, through the woods." Dorn instructed the man. "Show yourselves to those kids and distract them for as long as you can. Samson and I will be entering the house, hopefully catching those punks unawares."

"Should we enter the house as well, Sir?" the man asked.

"No." Dorn shook his head. "We need the kids to think we're outside for as long as possible. We'll call you for backup if we need assistance." He gestured to a communicator pin in the shape of a red devil head on his collar.

"Yes, Sir!"

"Okay, Samson, it looks like we're ready to roll."

88888

The hot meal in front of him lay untouched, as did the glass of brandy close to his other hand. The soft, leather seat was wide, plush and ready to recline, should he wish to sleep, yet Dr. Nambu barely noticed these amenities as he raced back to Utoland in Subdirector Anderson's private jet. His mind was too preoccupied thinking about Ken and Joe. How could he have been so careless? He was always so meticulous about every little detail, and yet this one time, when it had counted, he had been unable to live up to his duty as their foster father. Fortunately, Subdirector Anderson had instantly understood the entire sordid tale, offering his sympathies and the use of his jet. Dr. Nambu owed much to his mentor.

Joe had come into the Doctor's care only recently, but Ken was almost like a son to him. The thought of either boy being hurt… or worse… filled Dr. Nambu's heart with dread. He would never forgive himself if anything had happened to either one of them.

He could only pray that nothing had.

He checked his watch for perhaps the hundredth time, noting that they were still at least thirty minutes away from landing at Utoland International Airport. A cold premonition ran down his spine, urging him forward. He had to get home _now_.

Something was horribly wrong.

88888

"Do you see anything?" Ken asked.

"Not yet." Joe replied, his voice slightly distant and fuzzy as it emerged from the walkie-talkie in Ken's hand. "So far, backyard is clear. Over!"

"Front yard clear." Ken responded. "Check back in two minutes."

"10-4!"

Ken winced. Joe seemed a little _too_ enthusiastic with his CB talk. But at least Joe's enthusiasm fueled his diligence. They had been watching for over an hour, ever since the sun went down, checking in every two minutes. So far, there had been nothing. Ken almost wished that something _would_ happen. Sitting here was incredibly boring.

And yet, boring meant safe. He just had to remind himself of that.

"Ken, I see them!"

So much for safe. Ken picked up his walkie-talkie to respond.

"Where?"

"In the trees! I've got them!"

The walkie-talkie went silent. Ken knew that Joe needed two hands to operate Dr. Nambu's rifle. He was still nervous about letting the other boy use the gun, but in the end Ken had decided that the stakes were too high to ignore. The pistol the spies had pulled on them the previous night had been proof enough of that. This wasn't a game, far from it.

Nervously he counted the seconds, waiting for Joe to respond with another update, his eyes scanning the open expanse of yard in front of him, lingering at the trees and bushes that blocked the view of the villa from the main road a kilometer away. If he squinted and looked in the right area, he could see a dark lump in the bushes, indicating the spot where the crashed Nissan still lay at the scene of its accident. A light snow was beginning to fall, and already it was beginning to cover the evidence of the boys' misadventure.

"Ken, come quick!"

"What is it?" Ken gasped, already on his feet, his other arm grabbing for his box of model airplanes.

"I need help!"

That was enough for Ken. His feet pounded down the hallway as he raced to Dr. Nambu's bedroom, where Joe had taken up his position. The boys had decided on this room as their post because it had a large bay window that protruded from the back of the villa, giving a one hundred and eighty degree view of the surrounding area. When Ken entered the room, he saw Joe crouched over one of the window panels, the rifle in his hands.

"There are too many of them!" Joe shouted, without turning around.

"There are only two!" Ken protested, scrambling into a position at the window panel next to Joe. He opened the glass, a rush of cold air coming in to greet him.

"More!" Joe cried. "I already got two, and there are others!"

It was true. Ken could see dark shapes lying at strange angles on the new fallen snow. One was crawling slowly, clearly attempting to drag itself back to the trees; the other was unmoving. Yet other shapes emerged, their footsteps clearly visible in the thin blanket of white that covered the ground. Shots flew through the trees as Joe fired the rifle. He was still unsteady, and had difficulty aiming at moving targets.

Immediately, Ken pulled one of his planes out of the box, aiming it directly at the closest shape. The plane flew through the air, drifting with the wind, and falling short of its target. Ken frowned. Adding the razor-sharp ceramic steak knives on the noses of the planes had been his idea, but they made the models front-heavy, and more difficult to throw. Moreover, there were only eight knives in the set, which limited the number of planes he had been able to modify.

Ken took a deep breath, remember the hours of practice he had put in that afternoon, then threw again. This time, the airplane hit true, impacting with the man's leg, causing him to cry out in pain.

"Why you little brat!"

The voice was unfamiliar, and Ken suspected that this was not one of the men he and Joe had encountered the previous evening. Yet the anger in the voice was unmistakable, clearly bent on vengeance. He grabbed his leg, raising his fist to curse at Ken.

A shot fired, and the man went down, flopping onto the ground like the fish Ken caught in the lake with Dr. Nambu. A part of Ken felt ill, watching the man die, yet at the same time, he understood that it was his own life at stake, and that mattered more.

"That's good! Hit them and keep them still, then I can finish them off." Joe said in a rush. Ken nodded, unable to speak, pulling another plane from the box. He aimed and missed, but the following model sliced into another man's chest. The man staggered for a moment before the rifle fired again, then fell to the ground. A dark stain spread out across the ghostly whiteness of the fresh snow.

"Keep an eye out." Joe warned. "There may be more. These Galactors are tricky."

"Galactor?" Ken's mouth fell open in shock. "These guys are Galactor?"

"Yeah, don't you see the uniforms?" Joe told him. Ken squinted. In the dark he wasn't entirely certain, but it did look like the men had some kind of cap over their heads… and… armored chest plates?

"Bastards! You killed my parents!" Joe shouted, swiveling the rifle around as he looked for other targets.

"There." Ken pointed. In a sliver of moonlight two more shapes were visible. They looked as if they were hiding behind a large rock, taking cover. Ken aimed carefully and threw one of his planes, but the model shattered against the front of the rock.

"They're scared of us." Joe bragged. "They know that we can kill them before they kill us."

"They're still there." Ken pointed out. "They're not running away."

"They're too scared to run." Joe scoffed, but Ken saw him raise his rifle again. He squinted, aiming carefully, then pressed the trigger. The rifle recoiled, hitting Joe in the shoulder, just as a loud crack was heard outside. Pieces of rock flew up.

"Darn, I missed!" Joe grimaced.

Yet it seemed that the shot had had its desired effect. The flying pieces of rock had apparently cut one of the men, who had jumped up in surprise. Ken wasted no time in launching one of his planes, aiming for the figure's head. Instead he hit the man's arm, but it was enough to surprise him, giving Joe another chance to shoot. The figure went down, leaving only one man behind the rock.

Another crack sounded, this one too close for comfort. Instinctively Ken dropped to the floor, pulling Joe with him. There was another crack, and the sound of breaking glass.

"That slimy bastard is shooting back!" Joe appeared highly offended.

"He knows it's us or him!" Ken lectured.

"How do we get him if he's got us pinned down like this?" Joe muttered. Ken thought quickly, pushing his fear aside.

"Go to your room!" Ken instructed. Joe's room was much closer to the rock. "Hide yourself, then take a shot from there. I'll act as a decoy."

"A decoy?" Joe's face went white. "Ken, you wouldn't…"

"I'm not dumb enough to want to die." Ken rolled his eyes. "Now go!"

Joe nodded, leaping up and dashing out the door. Ken reached into his box of planes, pulling out another one and giving it his best shot. Fortunately, his target was close. The plane sailed through the broken window and outside. The sound of a pistol's retort and splintering wood told Ken that his bait had been swallowed.

He checked his ammunition. He had one more plane. He drew a deep breath, then threw his last model out the window. Once again he heard a pistol shot and splintering wood, but this time, it was followed by the sound of a rifle firing.

"Got him!" Ken heard Joe's voice crowing through his walkie-talkie.

"Are there any more?" Ken asked, not yet daring to get up from the floor and look out the window.

"No…" Joe replied slowly. "No. I don't see any more. Why don't you check?"

Carefully, Ken crawled away from the window area, then ran down the hallway to another room, dashing to the window. His eyes darted back and forth as he peered over the windowsill. Just as Joe had said, there was nothing else moving. To be certain, Ken watched for a couple of minutes, yet nothing stirred.

"All clear in the front too." Joe reported through the walkie-talkie. Ken's heart skipped a beat. He had completely forgotten about the front of the house. There could have been more Galactors out there, while he had been back here helping Joe! Cold sweat broke out all over his body, and Ken shivered in belated fear.

It was over. They had gotten them all. The men were dead.

But there was no question about it now. They would have to call the police. Men were dead. They had attacked the house with guns. Even if Dr. Nambu had left them alone, he would never want them to face this kind of danger.

Solemnly Ken went to the phone, picking it up, ready to dial 911. Yet there was no sound, no dial tone. Curious, he hung up, moving into another room and checking the phone there.

Dead.

The phone was out. There was no way for them to call for help.

Ken swallowed nervously, his fear returning in an icy rush. What if there were more Galactors?

No. There couldn't be. They had taken out six men. There wouldn't be more…

"Ken, get over here!" Joe shouted over the walkie-talkie. "Now!"


	7. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Samson grinned widely as he approached the side of the house. He was doing just as Dorn had said, and approaching along a narrow path between the house and the garage, out of sight of the windows on the villa. He mentally congratulated himself for following directions so well. Dorn would be pleased with Samson for once!

He reached the side door to the home, pulling out the lockpick that had been given to him. Samson inserted the pick into the door handle, attempting to work through the deadbolt while circumventing the electronic keypad system.

Unfortunately, his fingers were clumsy and he subjected himself to several shocks as he failed numerous times to bypass the keypad's power systems. But eventually he was able to jimmy open the door. Samson pocketed the lockpick, grinning with anticipation.

"I'll get that file, and get us our promotions!" he told himself.

Confidently he opened the door, scrabbling for the light switch. He was temporarily stymied when the hallway beyond remained dark, but decided to proceed anyway, stepping through the door.

_Pop! Pop! Pop!_

Samson threw himself down to the ground, his green, fanged mask flying off of his head. He gasped, startled by the noise and terrified that he would get hit. It sounded as if someone was shooting at him! As his body hit the floor, another series of popping sounds ensued, this time louder than the first, sounding as if they were coming from all around him. Samson was so distressed by this sudden turn of events that he barely noticed the tripwire underneath his body.

"What the hell?" he asked himself, his hands groping around in the dark. It felt like he was lying on… _bubble__wrap_?

A slight sound came from above him, and Samson looked up just in time to feel a downpour of powdery rain hitting him in the face.

He blinked, spitting the dusty substance from his mouth, just as he was hit by its full effect. His eyes screamed in pain and his mouth was assaulted by a fiery agony the likes of which he could never have imagined. Elsewhere his skin began to smart and itch as a horrifying rash appeared almost instantly, wherever the powder had gotten underneath his clothes. It slid down his collar and beneath his uniform as he writhed in anguish. More bubbles popped underneath him as he struggled against the powder's blistering grip.

There was only one thing left to do. Samson screamed in pain and outrage.

88888

Dorn stayed as close as possible to the outer wall while he was moving from the garage over toward the front door of the villa, unwilling to risk being seen through the windows on that side of the house. He reached the stairs that led up to the front porch in short order, rushing eagerly toward his goal.

Much to his surprise, Dorn's foot slipped right out from under him, flying up into the air and toward his face. As the rest of his body fell backward, Dorn grabbed the nearby railing, his hands scrabbling at its iron length.

Yet his fingers were unable to grasp the rail, and the tall man went flying, his back slamming into the ground as he landed. Dorn stifled a curse as his body was wracked with pain. Fortunately he had landed in the snow, which had softened his fall somewhat. There appeared to be no broken bones, but Dorn knew that tomorrow he would be a mass of bruises. What the hell had happened?

Groaning softly, he turned himself around, rolling carefully onto his hands and knees. Under the snow he felt a cold, slick smoothness beneath his gloves, and instantly he understood what had happened.

He had slipped on a patch of ice. The porch was protected from the snowfall by a thin roof, and so there had been nothing for the sole of his boot to grip when he had stepped carelessly. Berating himself for his own stupidity, Dorn pulled himself to a stand and shuffled cautiously over toward the stairs once more. Slowly he grasped the handrail, noting as he did so that it seemed to be completely encased in a thick covering of ice, making it of little use. Grimacing at the treachery of December weather, he inspected the stairs before him.

The entire set of stairs was sheathed in at least two centimeters of ice.

Dorn frowned. How was such a thing possible? It was as if there had been standing water sitting here for hours, before freezing in place. He shrugged, not willing to waste any further time thinking about how the ice had gotten there. What mattered was how he was going to bypass it.

Gritting his teeth, he moved back a few paces, then ran forward, vaulting himself over the stairs and onto the porch. While his leap was spectacular, his boots found no purchase, as the porch was, if anything, even more slippery than the stairs. Once again Dorn's feet flew out from under him and he landed on his back, his head knocking against the lowest step. He slid down the steps, landing in an undignified heap at the bottom.

He groaned, passing out for a few moments as his body recovered from its second fall in as many minutes. What the hell was going on here?

Clutching at his head, Dorn went over his options. He had to get to the door, yet he was unable to get there with the thick layer of ice preventing him from stepping anywhere near it. Obviously he couldn't fly there… but what if he could get rid of the ice?

Dorn pulled out his pistol, grimacing as he felt its unfamiliar weight. Those brats inside had his gun, and this was a hastily requisitioned replacement. Still, at least he wouldn't mind potentially damaging the thing, as he was about to do now. Carefully, Dorn crawled over to the stairs and began smacking the barrel against the ice on the stairs, over and over, until he was able to chip away just enough to gain a foothold. He repeated the process again and again, all the way to the front door, cursing the children inside the villa with every swing. He would be damned if he let a little ice get between him and his promotion!

It took him far longer than he would have liked to complete the process, especially as he had to muffle the resulting noise by wrapping the pistol in the sleeve of his uniform. But eventually, after a great deal of effort, he made his way to the front door.

Sweat dripping down his brow, Dorn triumphantly pulled himself to a stand, grabbing at the door handle for support.

A jolt of electricity surged through his body, stunning his brain and causing him to lose hold. He stumbled backward, hitting the ice-covered porch, then sliding back down the stairs to land in the snow once again.

Damn, he hated this job.

Finally recovering his addled wits, Dorn thought hard. Whatever it was that had happened had come when he was touching the door handle. Clearly it had somehow been electrified; obviously cutting the phone lines and shutting down the security protocols hadn't deactivated all of the protection measures employed by the villa's systems. He would just have to get around it; that was all.

Painstakingly, Dorn made his way back up the stairs, ensuring that he only stepped in the small patches he had cleared of ice, and then back to the door. He pulled out his systems hacking device, a prototype entrusted to him by Lord Katse, placing it directly onto the keypad, taking care not to touch the electrified door handle. Dorn activated the device, waiting for the minute or so it took to bypass the keypad system and unlock the door.

Given his current state, Dorn was unwilling to trust that the door handle was no longer electrified. Thanking Galactor Requisitions for his rubber-soled boots, he kicked at the latch, gratified when the door finally swung open.

Finally, things were going his way.

The villa was dark inside, but Dorn did not attempt to turn on the lights. There was no sense in warning the boys that he was inside the house. He could only hope that the other men he had brought with him were keeping those brats distracted at the back of the house. Or perhaps Samson was occupying their attention. Whatever the case, from this vantage point, the house appeared to be deserted.

Quietly shutting the door behind him, Dorn noticed something dragging behind it. A cord was tied to the inside door handle… an electrical cord, stripped at one end! Dorn's eyes narrowed in suspicion. This wasn't part of the security system…

A howl of anger and pain echoed through the home, startling Dorn and causing him to lurch backward. His foot landed on something small and hard… something that seemed to fly across the floor and leap out from under his boot. For the fourth time that evening, Dorn's feet came out from under him and he fell onto his back, a shriek of protest escaping his lips as he fell.

88888

"Over there, see?" Joe pointed out the window as Ken peered through the glass into the dark, snowy night. "Right in front of the stairs to the porch. Someone was in the snow."

Ken saw what Joe meant. In addition to the disruption in the otherwise pristine blanket of new fallen snow, the area was surrounded by crushed bushes and broken branches. Someone had been attempting to get up the front steps.

"Good thing you covered that whole area with ice." Ken sighed in relief.

"I guess that hour lugging buckets of water was worth it." Joe grimaced. "But…"

Joe never got to voice his doubts, as a series of pops from downstairs interrupted him. His face froze in shock, his eyes fixed on Ken's. Ken nodded grimly, gesturing at the rifle in the other boy's hands.

"How many more shots do you have?" he asked.

"I'm out of ammo." Joe muttered regretfully. "I've still got the pistol, though."

"I've got the secret weapon." Ken told him.

"You don't actually plan to use that thing, do you?" Joe asked, shocked.

"We have to do whatever it takes to save Hakase's files." Ken told him. "We can't let Galactor take them. If worst comes to worst…"

"It won't." Joe assured Ken.

A howl of anger rent the air, shortly followed by a shriek of surprise and pain.

"I guess the pepper mix and Matchbox cars worked." Ken observed.

"Sounds like it's time for Stage 2." Joe noted grimly.

88888

"Samson!"

Samson heard his name being called, but the thought barely registered on his mind as he struggled with the intense agony of the burning in his eyes, in his mouth, and on his skin. He cried out in pain, nearly oblivious to everything else as he thrashed upon the ground.

"Get up, you fool!"

That broke through. Despite his agony, Samson mentally grasped at the hope of the one person who could always help him out of a jam.

"Dorn! Help me, Dorn!" Samson screamed. "It burns!"

Dimly, he heard footsteps moving toward him, and then away.

"Dorn! Don't leave me, Dorn! Please!"

A torrent of cold water crashed over his face, washing away some of the sting. Samson gasped, recovering from the shock. Yet even as he processed what had occurred, it happened again, water splashing on his head, washing away a good measure of the burning sensation that seem to cover his entire head, neck, back and chest.

"Here."

A towel fell upon his head. Samson grabbed it gratefully and wiped at his face. His eyes stung and watered up, his skin itched and sweat, and his mouth flamed down his throat. Yet all of this had receded to a point where Samson could now concentrate on other things, pushing aside his discomfort in his relief at seeing his partner.

"Dorn, you came!" Samson sobbed, scrambling to his feet, a few more bubbles popping as he stood.

"What's that?" He gestured to what looked like a narrow bucket in Dorn's hand.

"Some kind of vase." Dorn snorted as he tossed the thing aside. "How do you think I got the water from the bathroom to your fat head?"

"Oh."

"So much for sneaking in without those punks knowing we're here." Dorn muttered in disgust. Samson hung his head, unconsciously rubbing at his eyes.

"What happened to you?" he gasped, finally getting a good look at Dorn.

"Don't ask!" Dorn snapped, looking away for a moment. But Samson couldn't stop staring. Even in the dim light, Dorn's face appeared to be covered in bruises, his hair sticking out at strange angles from underneath his mask. He was standing crookedly, as if in great pain.

"We have to get those files, now!" Dorn ordered. "_Now_!"

"I'm with you, Dorn!" Samson replied, but this only seemed to irritate his partner all the more.

"This way!" Dorn snapped, turning and stalking down the hallway. "Nambu's office is this way!"

Dorn moved through the darkness, Samson stumbling along behind, doing his best to keep up. Together they walked down the hallway that Samson remembered all too well from the night before. They passed by a door that Samson vaguely remembered from his study of the villa's architectural plans from the county records office. It was the kitchen, if he recalled correctly.

"What the…?"

Dorn's unexpected halt was too sudden for Samson to stop. He stumbled forward, knocking over his partner. The two of them went crashing face first to the ground.

"Get off of me, you idiot!" Dorn cried, attempting to shove Samson off of his back.

"Yes, Dorn!" Samson stood up as quickly as he could, scrambling to the side, yet strangely, Dorn did not rise.

"What's wrong, Dorn?"

"I'm stuck, you imbecile!"

"Stuck on what?"

"The floor!"

Samson looked in amazement. Sure enough, Dorn's boot soles were flat on the floor, causing his legs to bend at strange angles as he lay on the ground. Dorn's chest and hands also appeared to be stuck. Samson pulled on Dorn's arm, only to hear the sound of his partner's uniform ripping and tearing.

"It's some kind of glue." Samson observed.

"Don't worry about me, get the damn files, Samson!" Dorn raged. "The office is just down there!"

"Okay, Dorn!" Samson agreed, turning to take a step. But his feet didn't move.

"Uh… I think I'm stuck too." he admitted sheepishly.

"Not as much as I am!" Dorn shouted. "Just go, Samson!"

"Okay, okay!" Samson agreed, leaning down to unlace his boots. Carefully he wiggled his feet, until they sat loosely inside of his footwear. He held onto the wall, staring down the dim corridor as he took a deep breath and jumped.

Samson landed on the floor approximately a meter away from Dorn's head. He grinned to himself, ready to step forward, only to discover that his socks were now stuck to the floor.

"Aw no, not the socks too!" he moaned.

"Get going!" Dorn bawled. Samson could hear more ripping sounds as his partner worked to free himself.

"Okay!" Samson cried, doing his best to lift his feet, yet only succeeding in pulling off his socks. He grit his teeth and leapt once more, landing another meter away. Nervously he flexed his feet, a wide grin spreading across his face.

"I made it!" he announced. "No glue!"

"Then get the damn file already!" Dorn ordered.


	8. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Ken crouched low in the darkness, Joe at his side. They had watched the two Galactors for nearly fifteen minutes as they had extricated themselves from the boys' traps, only to fall victim to the InstaGlue Ken had spread over a good section of the hall floor. There was only one more trap between the men and Dr. Nambu's office. Ken could only hope that it would be enough to turn them back.

He squinted in the dim light, watching Samson's dark shape as he moved forward in his now-bare feet. It should be just about now…

"Aaaarrgghhh!" Samson howled, clutching at his foot while hopping up and down on the other. He screeched again as the second foot encountered the same obstacle as the first. Yowling in pain and outrage, Samson continued to hop and moan, until his injuries were great enough that he fell over completely and crashed to the floor.

"Broken glass… works like a charm." Joe smirked quietly, unheard by the men over Samson's cries.

"What the hell is going on? Get the files already!" Dorn shouted. The ripping sounds from his position were louder and more frequent now. Ken suspected that in short order the Galactor would be free of the InstaGlue.

"My feet!" Samson moaned. "Something is cutting my feet!" He groaned, rolling over and crushing more glass underneath his rotund body.

"Damn your feet! Just get the files!" Dorn snapped. "I'm coming over there!" Ken saw the tall man's form rise in the darkness, then jump forward. Dorn was now dressed in little more than green rags, portions of his tighty whities exposed as the majority of his clothing had been left on the floor behind him. Yet he was wearing his torn boots, and the broken glass would be little impediment to him.

"Get up you idiot!" Dorn snarled, physically hauling Samson to his feet and dragging him beyond the edge of the broken glass. The men were now only a few meters from Dr. Nambu's office, with no further barriers in their way.

Nothing but Joe and Ken.

"Stop!" Joe shouted, rising, the pistol from the previous night clutched in his hand and pointed at the two men. "Any further and I'll shoot!"

"Go ahead." Dorn smiled as he saw the two boys, his teeth glimmering in the dim, silvery light of the corridor. "You can only shoot one of us, if you even can shoot. By that time, your little friend will be dead." He waved his own pistol in a casual manner before pointing it straight at Ken.

Joe trembled as he held his gun, sweat beading his brow. His eyes flickered nervously over toward Ken, clearly uncertain as to how to proceed. It was a stalemate of the worst kind: one they were certain to lose.

Ken knew he had to act now. There was no further course of action. He had to move to their last resort.

"You won't shoot," he said quietly, "because I've got this." He held up the secret weapon.

"Is that…?" Samson gasped.

"You won't use that." Dorn smirked. "You're bluffing."

"I'll use it if I have to. If you don't leave now." Ken insisted.

"You won't use it." Dorn insisted. "You're just a kid. You do realize that if you use that, we'll all die? All of us… not just me, not just my partner, but you, and your little friend as well."

"We're willing to take that risk, to keep those files from you!" Ken declared, but his quavering voice betrayed his nervousness.

"I thought so." Dorn smirked, knowing he had won. He cocked his pistol…

Without pausing to think better of his actions, Ken pulled the pin from the grenade in his hand, tossing it through the open doorway and into Dr. Nambu's office.

"Run!" he shouted at Joe, taking off down the corridor, right past the two stunned Galactor spies. Ken hugged the wall, staying away from the patches of InstaGlue he had spread over the floor, moving as quickly as he could. He could hear Joe behind him, and beyond, the shouts of the thwarted Galactors.

"Let's get out of here!"

"Follow those punks!"

Once past the InstaGlue, Ken pelted down the hallway toward the kitchen, mentally counting down the seconds in his head. The grenade was supposed to give them almost a minute before detonating, but he wasn't entirely certain how long it had been.

Despite their original surprise, the Galactors were faster, their longer legs and superior strength giving them the advantage. Fueled with rage, they tore after the two boys, reaching out for them as they ran.

Ken had to slow down to enter the kitchen, skirting the edge of the doorway as quickly as he could. But he wasn't fast enough. Behind him Joe stumbled, Dorn reaching out to seize hold of him. Ken grabbed his friend's arm, yanking him into the kitchen a split second before Dorn. The tall man came barreling through the entrance, his tattered uniform flapping and his boots pounding on the floor. Yet the moment he set foot in the kitchen, he began to slide, his arms cartwheeling around him in a frenzied attempt to stay upright.

"Not again!" Dorn cried, cursing and snarling as he slid across the kitchen, eventually crashing into the opposite wall. He fell backward, his head smashing against the tile floor with an audible crack. A bare second later Samson appeared in the doorway. He too flailed madly as he stepped onto the slippery floor, his feet failing to find purchase as he plummeted to the ground. He hit the tile with an audible thud.

For a few seconds, everything was still. Ken and Joe stared at each other in disbelief. Had they actually done it?

An ear-splitting boom crashed through the house, the sound of splintering wood and crashing stone following an instant behind. A blast of scorching heat passed by the door, entering the kitchen just long enough to sear Ken's skin. He gasped for air, gratified by the relative coolness in the passing of the initial blast.

"So much for Hakase's office." Joe muttered, peering out the doorway and down the hall. "That whole area is on fire."

"We have to take care of these guys!" Ken cried, kicking at Samson's prone body. "They could wake up any second!" Indeed, both men were unconscious, but far from dead. Ken grabbed two rolls of duct tape from the kitchen counter, tossing one to Joe. He stepped carefully to avoid the slippery Jello he had spread on the floor earlier that evening.

"Got it." Joe nodded, moving over to Dorn's inert body. The boys quickly wrapped up the two men at their ankles, knees, wrists and elbows, lastly placing a stretch of duct tape over their mouths.

By now Ken could feel the heat again, and he realized that the flames were coming toward the kitchen.

"Now what?" Joe asked nervously, looking around. "Should we leave the house?"

"Emergency backup plan." Ken decided. "These guys are out, but they may wake up again, and who knows how many more of them there are outside."

"Emergency backup plan it is." Joe agreed.

88888

Dr. Nambu's fingers drummed anxiously on the car door handle as his driver made his way through the remote country roads that led to the Doctor's villa. The night was dark, although a silvery half-moon gave a ghostly sheen to the surrounding fields and forest.

Without warning, the sky ahead of them lit up with a burst of red and orange.

"What the hell was that?" the driver swore, slamming on the brakes. The car skidded on the icy road, but fortunately there was no other traffic to worry about at this time of night on Christmas Eve.

"The house…" Dr. Nambu's face turned white. "Ken… Joe… get me there now!" The driver caught one look at the Doctor's expression and hurried to obey, moving as fast as he could toward their destination.

As the car reached the villa property, Dr. Nambu looked about frantically for any sign of Ken or Joe, yet he saw nothing but a large, snow-covered lump in the bushes off to the right of the driveway. It was far too big to be the boys, and so the Doctor ignored it, instead pushing on to the house ahead.

What he saw was a scene from his worst nightmares.

Flames engulfed the entire right half and lower storey of the massive villa. Thick, black smoke obscured the view of the second storey, and a strong wind fanned the flames.

"Ken! Joe!" the Doctor screamed, running toward the house.

"No! Sir! Come back!" the driver cried, running after Nambu and tackling him, sending them both sprawling into the snow. "You can't go in there! We need help!"

With a trembling heart, the Doctor knew his man was right. The inferno that raged at his home was blazing out of control. It simply wasn't safe to enter.

But what if someone was already inside? He could only hope that Ken and Joe had fled.

The driver was already on his cell phone, requesting emergency assistance form the ISO and the local fire department. It was only moments before they heard the first approaching sirens, and the whining drone of fire-fighting aircraft.

"Oh please…" Dr. Nambu had never been a religious man, but he prayed now, the dancing flames casting a flicking hellish light upon his face.

88888

As the dawn rose on Christmas morning, the firefighters finally cleared Dr. Nambu to enter the remains of what had been his home. He was soot-stained, bedraggled and exhausted, having spent the intervening hours searching the forest and grounds around the villa, desperately hoping for some sign of his foster sons. The snow had been heavy, obscuring his vision, along with any possibility of spotting footprints on the ground. Even rocks and bushes seemed to disappear under its thick layer, leaving only a ghostly white, illuminated by the flickering flames from the villa. There had been no sign of either Ken or Joe, and with each passing minute the Doctor's heart had only grown heavier.

Most of the house was completely destroyed. The fire had almost completely ravaged the home, leaving only a few rooms untouched. However even these areas had been damaged by smoke and water, enough that the entire villa would have to be completely razed. There was nothing left of the place Dr. Nambu had called home for the past ten years.

Bewildered and burdened with an immense sorrow, the Doctor shambled aimlessly about what remained of the villa, staring at the charred, crumbling walls, the blackened remains of the furniture and the scorched floors with unseeing eyes. There was no sign of light or movement in this place of death.

Slowly he passed into the few rooms that had not been burned, yet these were filled with lingering smoke and dripping water. At last he came to the kitchen, which he was surprised to discover was nearly intact. Oddly, there were two strange lumps in the corner underneath the dining table. No… it couldn't be…

The Doctor bent down, peering at the lumps, jumping back in surprise when he saw one of them move. He realized that these two bodies were too big to be his foster sons: indeed, they were clearly grown men. A groan issued forth from one of them, muffled behind something covering the man's mouth. The other shifted slightly, and Dr. Nambu's eyes widened as he took in the tattered green mask the man was wearing.

"I need security personnel in here, right now!" he called on his handheld communicator, and in less than a minute ISO guards were taking the two men into custody. Yet how they had wound up in his kitchen, covered with duct tape, was beyond the Doctor's imagining.

No… it couldn't be… and yet, his heart leapt, hoping that it was true.

"Ken!" he cried at the top of his lungs. "Joe! Are you here?"

A soft scraping sound answered him, and the Doctor's head swiveled back and forth as he attempted to determine its location. The pantry door twitched, then opened slowly.

"Ken? Joe?" Dr. Nambu could hardly believe his eyes as the two boys entered the kitchen, their faces filled with exhaustion and bewilderment. "You're alive!"

"Yeah…" Ken muttered, looking at the ground for a few seconds, and then rushing into the Doctor's arms. Joe hesitated a moment, then moved closer to the other two, seeming gratified when Dr. Nambu ruffled his hair.

"Wow…" Joe looked around, staring at the kitchen. "This place is toasted!"

"You should see the rest of it." the Doctor remarked wryly. His relief that the two boys were alive outweighed any other concern for the moment.

"I guess those grenades really work." Joe commented, peeking out of the door and down the corridor.

"Grenade?" Dr. Nambu's eyebrows shot up so fast that they nearly flew off of his face.

"It was the only way we could stop them." Ken attempted to explain. "We tried… we got some of them in the backyard, but then the other two were in the house… they wanted your files…"

"Wait a minute…" Dr. Nambu shook his head, hardly able to believe what he was hearing. "The two men who were here in the kitchen… they wanted my files?"

Ken and Joe nodded solemnly.

"And you were the ones who wrapped them up in duct tape?"

The boys nodded again.

"And there were other men, in these same green uniforms, in the backyard… and you took care of them?"

"I used your rifle." Joe admitted. "Ken agreed it was an emergency."

"We had to, Hakase!" Ken rushed to explain. "They were spies! We knew we couldn't let them have your important files!"

Dr. Nambu found himself at a loss for words as he attempted to take in what the boys were telling him. At long last his throat loosened and he was able to speak once more.

"My rifle… and how does a grenade fit in with all of this?" he asked slowly, not sure he wanted to hear the answer.

"When none of our traps worked, and they wouldn't leave, we had to destroy your office." Ken explained, hanging his head in shame. "I'm sorry, Hakase. It was all we could think of… they had guns…"

"You should have seen Ken throw that grenade!" Joe bragged. "He was totally cool… those Galactors didn't think he would do it! But he did!"

"My…" the Doctor looked at the two children in front of him. "My office is gone… all of my work…"

"Oh no, Hakase!" Ken brightened, relieved that he had done something right. "I have your files right here! I took it out of the toilet tank last night…" The boy pulled something from his pocket, pressing it into Dr. Nambu's hand. The Doctor looked down, only to see the data storage key with his most recent backup, including all of his regenerative metals files. The data key that had been securely stored…

"How did you get this?" he asked, his eyes narrowing.

"Ken got it out of your safe." Joe volunteered. "He knew the code."

"You knew the code…" the Doctor whispered, almost to himself.

"We have more too!" Ken offered. "We brought everything to the bunker, before those Galactors showed up!"

"The bunker?"

"Yeah, down here!" Joe took Dr. Nambu's arm, leading him across the kitchen and to the pantry door. Down they went, pausing at the end of the door while Joe punched in the keypad code.

"You were in the bomb shelter?" the Doctor began to laugh, sitting down on one of the bunks as the dark humor overtook him. "Here I've been searching for you all night, and you were in the bomb shelter the entire time?"

"Yep! And here are your files!" Joe replied, proudly dropping an armful of papers into Dr. Nambu's lap.

"I'm sorry about the house, Hakase." Ken apologized, his bright blue eyes sorrowful in his elfin face. "We didn't mean to destroy it all…"

"It just worked out that way." Joe shrugged casually.

"You don't have anything to apologize for, Ken." the Doctor told him. "Neither do you, Joe. I am the one who left you alone. I'm the one who should have known better. You were faced with a horrible situation: a situation no one should ever have to face, much less two children. I am so proud of you, and so relived to see that you're all right."

He pulled both boys tightly to him, his paper files falling to the floor in a heap. Small arms wrapped around him, tugging at the depths of his heart.

"We love you, Hakase." Ken whispered.

"I love you too, boys."


	9. Epilogue

Epilogue

That Christmas was one that none of them ever forgot. It was spent in one of Utoland's finest hotels, after only a few hours of sleep, and yet somehow Santa found them just the same. They awoke to find a large tree in their suite, surrounded by a mountain of presents. It was a real tree, and the sharp scent of pine only added to the miraculous feel of the holiday. In addition to the clothing and books that had appeared under the tree, Ken had been treated to a new set of model plane kits and associated supplies, while Joe had acquired the latest model of Playstation and a number of games.

But the best present of all came a week later, on New Year's Day, when Dr. Nambu took them for a drive out to the other side of the city. The road wound along the ocean coastline, giving them a fabulous view of the water from the top of the cliffs. After perhaps an hour, the Doctor pulled over at a small road leading off into the wilderness.

"Why are we stopping here, Hakase?" Ken asked.

"Because this is our new home." Dr. Nambu smiled.

He continued up the driveway, moving slowly until the massive white, Mediterranean style villa came into view, its red tile roof bright against the morning sun. Both boys gaped in awe, barely noticing the high security gates or the platoon of guards roaming the perimeter.

"We get to live here?" Joe asked, his eyes taking in the view of the ocean below the house.

"We get to do more than live here." the Doctor told them seriously. "Ken, Joe, I really admire the way you boys worked together while I was gone. You were a team, doing whatever you had to do to protect what you thought was most important. You were able to deal with a full on assault by eight grown men, and safeguard important data, preventing it from falling into the wrong hands."

The boys nodded, uncertain where this was leading, yet sensing that something important was about to happen.

"I've spoken with Subdirector Anderson, and he agrees with what I have in mind." Dr. Nambu went on. "How would you boys like to be trained… properly trained… to fight? To learn how to defeat Galactor?"

"We've already defeated Galactor!" Joe bragged.

"But they'll be back." the Doctor told him. "Joe, you understand that Galactor is a far bigger organization than the few men who approached the other house. You will need more training, and better weapons, if you are to defeat them."

"I'll do whatever it takes to defeat Galactor." Joe agreed.

"Me too. I owe it to my father." Ken concurred.

"Then boys, welcome to your new home." Dr. Nambu smiled. He rose to a stand, taking one of their hands in each of his, and together they entered their new house, and their new lives.

None of them would be left alone ever again.

**The End**


End file.
